The Animal Within
by xPoppyx
Summary: The Earth is populated by thousands of species of animals, all ranging from docile to deadly, and Agent Little of SHIELD has a special talent involving these creatures that lands her a spot amonst the world's mightiest heroes. She maintains her favorite animals, like all do; the majestic tiger, the poisonous mamba, and even...perhaps...the keen-eyed hawk.
1. A Far Cry From Normal

**A/N Just a random story that I've been bouncing around in my head long enough to want to write it. I promise that this is either going to go smoothly or end up unfinished in a discarded heap along with so many other possibly successes. Just a fair warning to all you out there.**

**DISCLAIMER—Pay attention, my darlings, for I do not repeat myself…EVER. I do not own any part of the _Marvel_ Universe. **

**SPECIAL NOTE—Though none of my characters will actually be going to Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted, there will be references to the establishment due to relations and abilities of my OC. This is NOT a crossover! This is also set during and after _Marvel's_: _The_ _Avengers_. Some lines from other characters in the movie will be going to my OC to aid in her integration.**

**And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the exits from this fanfiction are located at the top right hand corner of your screen. If there is any turbulence, please remain seated and ride it out. Please fasten your seatbelts and put your seats and trays in the most comfortable position you can find. Thank you for choosing Poppy Stories for your entertainment pleasures! Enjoy the ride.**

**Chapter One: A Far Cry From Normal**

"Are you kidding ? I'm working? I'm in the middle of an interrogation! This moron is giving me everything!"

The large Russian man in the military garb turned to his flunkies. "I not give…everything."

Natasha Romanoff, also known as The Black Widow, raised a brow and shot Georgi Luchkov a look of mockery. "Look, you can't pull me out of this."

_"Barton's been compromised."_

A look came across the woman's face. She set her eyes on the man who was just moments ago about to rip out her teeth with a rather old looking tool. This indeed did take precedence over what she was currently dealing with. "Let me put you on hold." She nodded to the fat man.

Luchkov confidently took the phone back from her, thinking nothing of it. The woman was securely bound, wasn't she?

That was a bad idea.

Agent Romanoff made quick work of the two flunkies, using them to smash her way out of the ties that bound her to the rather fragile wooden chair. Once they were discharged she finished off their boss by clocking him on the head and dropping him down a shaft with a chain wrapped around an ankle. She was certain the jerk of his fall would dislocate his hip with ease, but that didn't matter to her. All that mattered was for her to grab the phone, her shoes, and get the hell out of dodge.

"Where's Barton now?"

_"We don't know."_

She frowned slightly. That meant SHIELD had lost a compromised agent. Not good. "But he's alive?"

_"We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy."_

Natasha chuckled into the phone. "Coulson, you know Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me."

She didn't quite like the confident tone in the voice of the man on the phone. _"Oh, I've got Stark. You get the Big Guy."_

The SHIELD agent stopped a moment to look about the rather decrepit warehouse Luchkov used as his interrogation and torture chamber. This was not going to be easy…

~**The Following Day~**

Captain Steve Rogers was seated on the rather uncomfortable bench in the quinjet that was transporting him far out to sea where an aircraft carrier was located. He had been told the large vessel was SHIELD's moving base of operations and main headquarters now that their fixed location was a massive crater. At the moment he was looking over the files of the men that Director Fury was bringing in on the operation. "So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum used on me?"

Agent Phil Coulson, Fury's chosen man to head the assembling of those who were part of the Avengers Initiative, nodded. "A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."  
Steve frowned down at the file. "Didn't really go his way, did it?"

Coulson shook his head. "Not so much." He moved to stand beside the captain. "When he's not that thing, though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking."

Rogers turned his face to look at Coulson with a perfectly confused gaze. Who the hell was Stephen Hawking?

"He's like a smart person." It took the agent a moment to realize that it was perfectly possible that the captain still had absolutely no clue on who famous people were and what they had done. _Genius move there, Phil…_

That honestly didn't help the man at all. Everyone was smart in their own sense. In fact, it only reminded him that he had missed so much in the seventy years he was frozen. In the time since the thawing he had come face to face with new technologies and ideas that baffled him. Cell phones, laptops, flat-screen televisions, gas prices, prices in general, world issues, and government policies. Everything was being thrown at him from left and right and there was little he could do to understand it all at once. He was beginning to wish SHIELD would offer him some kind of reintegration course so that he might be able to walk down the street and understand half of what he was seeing without getting a massive headache in the process. It had never occurred to the captain that so much could change. He stood and moved to just behind the cockpit where he leaned against the top rail with his arm.

Coulson, like a young fan boy, couldn't help but gush over meeting the captain. "I've gotta say, it's a real honor meeting you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."

Rogers raised a brow, looking very uncomfortable with that statement.

"I mean, I was—I was present while you were unconscious from the ice." Coulson felt like a perfect idiot for having not chosen his wording more carefully the first time around. "You know, it's just a huge honor to have you on board." He hoped the subject change would erase his little snafu.

The captain returned to staring out the front windows. "Well, I hope I'm the man for the job."

Coulson perked up. "Oh, you are. Absolutely. Oh, and we've made a few modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input myself."

This piqued the man's interest. "The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little…old fashioned?"

The SHIELD agent gave a nod. "With everything that's happening, everything that's about to come into light, people might just need a little old fashioned."

The pilot of the aircraft turned his head just slightly. "You guys should sit down. We'll be landing shortly."

As they took their seats, Rogers continued to look out the window at the massive ship waiting for them in the middle of the ocean. For the first time in a long time he felt normal again. This was the military…or something close enough to that. This was the life he was used to. He relaxed for a moment as the jet landed. Finally, something he could think was normal.

The jet landed on the airstrip and the back dropped down into a ramp so the passengers and pilots could get out. As the agent and captain departed from the jet Coulson introduced him to a woman with short, fiery red hair. "Captain Rogers, this is Agent Romanoff."

The man was very surprised by the nonchalant, "Hey."

He tipped his head. "Ma'am."

Coulson went off to deal with whatever business Fury could put him to.

Romanoff smirked. "It was quite the buzz around here finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon." She turned a raised brow and smirk in his direction. "He ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

Rogers' eyebrows were lost in his hairline as he turned a rather amused grin in her directions. "Trading cards?"

She nodded. "They're vintage. He's very proud."

It was then that the captain caught sight of a very jumpy and timid looking man looking at one of the jets.

"Dr. Banner!"

The man turned at the sound of his name and approached the two. He shook hands with the captain. "Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming."

Rogers took on his 'military' voice and gave the doctor and nod. "Word is you

can find the cube."

Banner looked the man over with a very guarded expression. "Is that the only word on me?"

Rogers gave the man a nod and a small smile. "Only word I care about."

It was with that comment that the doctor realized that perhaps not everyone in the

world was out to see him turn into a massive green monster. He crossed his arms after motioning to everything around them. "Must be strange for you, all of this."

The captain looked around with a knowing grin on his face. "Well, this is actually

kind of familiar."

Natasha got in between the men, interrupting their conversation. "Gentlemen, you

may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath." There was a smirk placed upon her countenance that belied that she knew something they had no idea about.

Rogers felt the ship give a tremor and looked around with curiosity. It was almost as though he were a young boy with his interest prodded by something he didn't quiet understand. "Is this is a submarine?

Banner smirked and scoffed in disbelief. "Really? They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

The ship started to shake more continuously as the crews ran hither and thither making sure all cockpits were sealed and jets securely fastened to the deck. The doctor and captain walked to the edge of the ship where a marvelous sight was before them. There they could see pistons moving and gears rotating bringing up large engines from beneath the water. Huge rotating blades began to spin, lifting the ship up and out of the salty sea and into the air.

Banner was almost smiling with just how horrible this was about to become. He shook his head. "Oh, no! This is much worse!"

Agent Romanoff quickly escorted the gentlemen inside to the main bridge of the ship where Nick Fury was issuing orders left and right while Agent Hill did the same. The dark haired woman turned to inform the director that they were at level.

Fury nodded. "Let's vanish."

Hill went back to ordering those on the controls to their duties.

With eyes full of wonder, Captain Rogers looked about the bridge of the ship in awe. In the back of his mind there was a memory of having been bet ten bucks that there was still something that could surprise him.

Fury turned to the two men. "Gentlemen."

Rogers shoved a hand into his right pocket and pulled out the cash he had. He continued to stare about the large room as he handed ten dollars to Fury. As the director and Doctor Banner began discussing the whereabouts of the Tesseract, the captain noticed someone sitting at the table. A woman with curly black hair in SHIELD uniform had her arms behind her head and her feet kicked up onto the table. She was leaning precariously back in the chair to a point where the slightest shudder of an engine or perhaps only a breath would overturn her relaxed state. Her eyes were closed, which gave Rogers all the leave he needed to examine her face. In her sleep-like state she looked young, but not so young at the same time. He gave her mid- to late-twenties at the oldest. The conversation behind him about gamma rays and spectro…spectra…whatever the things were called was perfectly lost on him as he looked at the apparently sleeping agent.

And suddenly, movement!

"Captain, pardon my attitude, but if you keep staring at me I'll be forced to bite you." That was, however, the only movement to be seen. The woman neither turned her head nor adjusted her arms. All that moved were her lips as she threatened the captain in a most interesting manner.

Rogers was taken aback. How had she known? Then again…she was part of SHIELD. How was he to know what skills the agents did or did not possess? Had she heard him standing there just breathing? He knew many agents possessed certain skills. Was that hers?

It was then that Fury turned about. "Agent Little!"

_Ah, so she has a name._

The raven-haired woman jumped to her feet in a way the Captain was certain should have tipped her chair. "Sir?"

"Please show Doctor Banner to his laboratory."

She nodded and beckoned for the jittery man to follow her. "You're gunna love it, Doc. We've got all the toys."

As they walked away, Rogers approached Natasha. "Who was she?"

Romanoff gave a small shrug and a smirk. "Agent Kaleigh Little. She's one of Fury's personal flunkies. I wouldn't call her a friend, but a decent acquaintance, perhaps. I've worked with her before and she most definitely belongs with SHIELD."

The captain raised a brow. "What makes you say that?"

The red-head grinned. "She's no ordinary human, Cap."

This brought a small chuckle from the man. "Are any of us really that normal to begin with, Agent Romanoff?"

**A/N Agent Little's name is pronounced kay-lee for those who might not catch that : ) **


	2. C'mere, Fido!

**A/N Aaaand chapter two :) This chapter is most definitely _longer _than the first one. I always have trouble with the first chapter. I can never seem to make them as long as I like! Oh well, this one is much better.**

**Chapter Two: C'mere Fido! **

Agent Coulson and Captain America were standing on the bridge by the railing as they watched the crew work. Coulson was doing his job by keeping an eye on things while Rogers was simply curious to watch people working away on such advanced technology. He remembered Hydra having advanced systems and weaponry, but there was something about the flying ship that made him think even they were not quite as advanced. A scary thought crossed his mind. If Hydra existed in today's world it would be so much easier for them to obtain everything they needed. They had failed in the past, but if they were still around would they fail again?

"So…I was wondering, Captain. If you wouldn't mind. I've got a collection of Captain America trading cards. Would you sign them for me?"

The man turned a knowing smirk in the agent's direction. _So, Romanoff was right._ He nodded his head. "I don't see why not."

Coulson was as giddy as a school girl, but he had to maintain composure. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"No, no. It's fine." Quite honestly, it was flattering. He had never known of the trading cards seeing as how he had been in the middle of a war…and then the ocean…when they were in production.

The agent's chest swelled with a hint of pride. "It's a vintage set. Took me a couple of years to collect them all." He glanced at the captain, hoping to find some sort of real interest in the face of the hero. "Near mint! Slight foxing around the edges, but no—"

One of the agents at a computer interrupted Coulson.

"Sir! We've got a hit!"

Coulson, Rogers, and Fury all moved to get a better look at the screen.

"Sixty-seven percent match."

There was a picture of the man Rogers had been told was Loki. The captain made a point of burning the image of the pale, dark-haired man into his memory forever.

"Wait. Cross-match. Seventy-nine percent!"

Coulson moved to the man's side and stared at the screen. "Location?"

The man's name was Agent Jasper Sitwell. He looked up at the man. "Stuttgart, Germany. Twenty-eight Konigstrasse." He watched the short video clip of Loki looking about and smiling. "He's not exactly hiding."

Fury gave a nod of his bald head before turning his one eye on the soldier. "Captain."

Rogers looked at the man. He knew that tone of voice. Orders.

"You're up."

He nodded and was about to leave when he realized he had no idea where his belongings were.

Fury touched the com link in his ear. "Agent Little. Meet the Captain on Two. Show him to his things."

_"Yes, Sir."_

The dark man nodded to the hero.

Rogers quickly left and made his way to Level Two of the ship. It was there he found the curly-haired woman waiting for him. This was the first time he noticed how tall she was. If he was six-foot even she was probably no taller than five-foot-five. The one thing he did notice was that, unlike many of the woman on the ship, wasn't wearing some kind of heels. Her feet were cased in military-grade combat boots. That wasn't the only thing odd about her apparel, either. Unlike everyone else on the ship she didn't wear a belt around her one-piece suit. She had only two weapons attached to her thigh; a handgun and a knife. Agent Little gave a nod and bid him to follow. It was a short distance, but far enough for the captain to ask a question of the woman. "Romanoff says you aren't an ordinary human. What did she mean?"

Agent Little glanced at the man out of the corner of her eye. They quickly approached the necessary door. "Here we are, Captain." She opened the door and motioned for him to go inside.

"But you didn't—"

His words fell of deaf ears as she was already walking away. It's not that the agent didn't want to tell the captain about her skill set; it was just that she wasn't fond of telling people in general. The ones who knew were the ones who needed to know. Fury, Romanoff, Hill, Coulson, and a _very _small handful of others knew what she could do. Everyone else in SHIELD simply knew that she was a skilled spy and soldier for their covert organization. Yet, she was a shadow. The news that she would be along for the ride sent whispers through the lower ranking members of SHIELD. Many were curious as to just what she could do. Many thought she was like Romanoff, a great actress and spy who could get any information that was necessary. Many thought she was superhuman like the Captain. Yet, for all that was assumed of her, no one knew just what the agent was capable of.

Shaking off the dismissal, Captain America suited up in the ol' Stars and Stripes. He fitted his shield to his arm. It had been some time since he had last donned the suit and held his shield, but it felt like only yesterday he had been storming through Germany leading his men against a dictator. Now…Now he was going back to Germany to try and stop a man who shared many similarities with the definition of dictator. Once he was changed, Rogers left the room and made his way back to the bridge. He knew it would be from there that he would be given further orders on where to report.

Fury nodded to the captain. "You'll be flying with Agents Romanoff and Parker. Your job is to apprehend Loki and bring him back he—"

"Sir."

They turned to see Agent Little standing there.

Fury straightened and put his arms behind his back. "Yes, Agent?"

She gave a small dip of her head. "Permission to accompany the captain?"

The man narrowed his one eye at her. "And why should I grant this?"

Rogers noticed her eyes for the first time as she stared at them. They were a shocking color of blue…or perhaps purple? He decided it would be best to call them a pale lavender-blue. It was an odd color he had never seen before in someone's eyes.

She tilted her head. "Romanoff will be his back-up in the sky, would it not be wise to have back-up on the ground as well, sir? I may even be able to pick up a trace on Agent Barton an—"

Her words were cut short by the hand held aloft by the director. "Enough, Agent Little. Permission granted."

She was about to turn and leave when his voice rang out.

"On one condition: You stay in that jet unless under the expressed wishes of the captain or Romanoff. Am I understood, Agent Little?"

Her jaw and lips tightened for a moment before she gave a nod. "Yes, Sir."

"Good. Now, all of you, head out. Romanoff, Parker! You have your heading!"

"Yes, Sir!"

The group made their way to the deck to load up into one of the quinjets. As they were getting ready, Rogers noticed a rather unhappy glint in the strangely colored eye of the SHIELD agent. The jet was lined up and ready for take-off. He took a seat beside her and cleared his throat. "Uh…Look, Kaleigh, once we get there feel free to just jump right on in. It seems you don't like being on a short leash and you really want to be…on…the…"

His words trailed off due to the burning glare he was receiving from the woman to his left.

Agent Little was practically vibrating with fury. "First, _Captain_," she spat the word out with a malice, "it's _Agent_ _Little_. Secondly, I am _not _kept on a _leash_!"

Rogers felt the urge to scoot one seat over and away from her had she not stood and took to the other side of the aircraft. He swallowed a lump in his throat. There had been a strange sort of growl that accompanied the tail end of her angry statement. Was it a growl? Perhaps it was just the engine…No _human _could make that sort of sound. Then again…hadn't Romanoff said she was no ordinary human?

It wasn't long before they were flying over Germany and only moments away from their destination.

Romanoff turned in her seat. "Alright, guys! This is it!" She fixed the captain with a look. "It looks like Loki is already stirring up trouble! Get in there, Cap!"

The back hatch was lowered. They were some distance above the ground, but Rogers knew that was nothing he couldn't handle. What was odd to him was that Little seemed to be taking no care for how she was going to fall. Instead, she just followed him as he jumped through the opening and down to the streets of Stuttgart below. Rogers hit the ground in a kneeling position and stood, surveying the scene that was playing out before him. He could see Loki standing amongst a crowd of kneeling civilians. A frown plastered itself on his face. It was just as Loki seemed ready to execute an elderly gentleman who was refusing to kneel to a man like him that the captain moved into action. He leapt in front of the man just in time to rebound the harmful beam back at Loki.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd as Captain America rose to his feet. "You know, the last time I was in Germany and I saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."

Loki stood and stared the man down. "The soldier. A man out of time." Venom that dripped from his lips and into the words he spoke.

Captain shook his head. "I'm not the one out of time."

The jet loomed into view and Romanoff's voice could be heard over the PA. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down!"

Obviously, the God of Mischief had other plans. He shot off a beam at the jet before launching an attack on the captain. The two exchanged blows for several moments. It was an unlucky moment on the captain's part that his shield was deflected by Loki. Now his one and only physical weapon was gone. It seemed the Asgardian was to have the upper hand as the captain knelt on the ground before him.

Loki placed the butt of his scepter on the back of the man's head. "Kneel!"

The captain took a breath and brushed the weapon aside. "Not today!" He was about to kick the man in the face, but someone else got to him first. He was forced to step back as a large dog came out of nowhere. The animal gripped Loki by one of the satanic horns protruding from his helmet and gave him a solid toss.

Meanwhile, in the jet, Romanoff was trying to pin down Loki to start doing what she does best (next to spying): shooting. "The guy's all over the place!"

It was then a song began to pour in through the radio and out of the PA system.

Checking over the screens she saw the red blinking light and message indicating someone had hacked into the jet's systems.

_ "Agent Romanoff, yah miss me?"_

Out of seemingly nowhere Tony Stark all decked out in his Iron Man regalia zoomed in to save the day. He let loose a blast that knocked Loki into a set of steps. After flying overhead he dropped down to stand near the captain. Holding up his arms he aimed everything he had at the villainous man upon the steps. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

Loki looked up to see Captain America, Iron Man, and a large snarling canine facing him with a jet aimed right at him. This was a very…_good_…thing. He held his hands up in surrender as his armor melted away.

Stark nodded. "Good call."

The captain came up beside the man. "Mr. Stark."

Iron Man nodded back. "Captain."

They both looked at the dog that was still standing at attention and baring its teeth at the Asgardian. It seemed to be on their side…but…it was a _dog_.

Stark, being the one always unafraid to prod at those curious and unexplainable incidences, was the first to ask. "Uh…Who's dog?" His face mask lifted as he knelt down. "Let's see if he's a friendly." Stark whistled for the dog who stayed put. "C'mere…boy…uh…C'mere, Fido."

The men jumped back half a step when the dog turned and snapped at Stark's metal-covered hand.

At that moment Rogers noticed something very peculiar about the big dog. He couldn't tell the breed right off, but its size reminded him of some kind of mountain dog or mastiff. Yet, it was the eyes that caught his attention. Such a strange color...The dog's head bowed and its shoulders lifted from the ground. Stark and Rogers watched in shock as the large dog quickly turned into a petite woman with curly black hair and lavender-blue eyes.

Agent Little tilted her head proudly at the man in red and gold. "If you would, Mr. Stark, _not _address me as 'Fido' I'd be much appreciative." Her gaze was hard and burning with a furious energy. "And _never _mistake me for a boy _ever _again!" She turned on her heel and made her way over to assist in the restraining of Loki.

They piled back into the jet and Parker was ready for take-off when Rogers took a seat next to Little. "So…"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You've missed a lot, Captain." She seemed far more relaxed than she had their first few encounters.

"Apparently."

Stark was standing near the cockpit and watching their exchange. He knew what Little was. He knew all about _her _kind of people.

Little began. "It all really began during the second World War. People called 'mutants' began to surface. They were few and far apart at first, but now their numbers have greatly increased. Many just hide who and what they are and go about living normal lives. Some have taken a turn down the wrong road and use their gifts in acts of malice or avarice. There is one place, though, where mutants are welcome. They are taught how to control their powers and use them properly. I used to live there, but I left due to…creative differences."

The captain was truly curious about what she was telling him. "Differences?"

She frowned and glowered at a spot on the floor. "They don't really like when mutants who use their power for good do it in a free-lance style. I was getting out and about and using my powers in exchange for payment in shady situations. The big man on campus told me that would only shed a bad light on his establishment. I told them to shove it, packed my things, and left. I joined SHIELD because it's here that I can really use my gifts in the way I like." She leaned back into the seat. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm done talking about myself."

Captain just raised a brow and stood, crossing over to where Stark was standing. "I don't like it."

The man gave him a look. "What? Having Fido on our te—"

"I heard that!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, having FiFi on our team? Or Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

The comment elicited a steady growl from Little's chest.

The captain shook his head. "I just don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop.."

Stark smirked. "Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow." He turned a mocking grin on the soldier. "What's your thing? Pilates?"

Rogers shook his head. "What?" How much else had he missed out on!

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

That last remark got Stark a very blank star of unhappiness. The captain's eyes narrowed. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

Stark smirked. "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Suddenly, the jet gave a slight lurch as they hit some nasty turbulence.

Natasha looked around the sky they were flying through as huge thunderclouds and streaks of lightening pulsed through the heavens. "Where did this come from?"

In his seat, Loki stretched in his seat to look through the glass ceiling above him.

Little smirked. "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightening?"

The man set her with a rather flat gaze. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Just then something landed on the roof of the jet, causing it to tremor.

Stark went into action. He replaced his helmet and opened the back hatch. As a man dressed in rather strange clothes with a long flowing cape stepped in Stark was about to dispatch him until he was knocked aside with ease. Little watched as the newcomer grabbed hold of Loki and went right back out the hatch. She was getting ready to get up and follow, when the captain put a hand on her shoulder.

She glowered at him.

He shook his head. "Sit this one out, Miss."

She began to growl when Stark turned to her. "Sit girl! Stay! That's a good girl!"

Little's hands clenched into fists as she watched first Stark, then Captain America leap out of the craft and after the man who stole their prisoner. She hissed beneath her breath.

Natasha closed the hatch and turned in her seat to look at the rather miffed agent. "Hey, chill out Little."

The woman shook her curly head slowly. "If Stark makes one more dog comment I'm going to kill him."

Romanoff just laughed as they flew back to HQ. She knew Stark and the captain would get Loki back. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that they would succeed. Hell, they might even bring the man who abducted him, too, friendly or not.

**A/N Alrighty, here's the deal-io, so long as I'm in Movie Land, the chapters will seem either overly condensed or overly drawn out. In trying to plot a new character right in the beginning without giving her much of an introduction moments in the movie that were only thirty seconds or so might be drawn out to two or three minutes so I can fit in new dialogue and Agent Little. Also, speaking of her, I will refer to her mostly as Agent Little or Little until her moniker is released to the public. I did mention Professor Xavier and his establishment, but only in mild passing (I hope you Marvel fans caught that, or else hand over your Fan Card _now_).**


	3. Claps for Captain America!

**A/N Chapter three! If you're wondering how I am updating so fast it's because I was unsure if I should or should not post this story so I just felt like typing out the beginning chapters before uploading anything at all. Enjoy!**

**Also, if you haven't guessed by now, I'm using the movie as an introduction to the main story. That's why at this chapter we are already well into the film's running time.**

**Chapter Three: Claps for Captain America!**

"Sir, Loki is being brought in as we speak. He surrendered with…uncomfortable ease."

Fury turned to look at Agent Little with a raised brow. "Ease?"

She nodded. "I watched his bout with Captain, he could have easily outmatched the man…but once Stark showed up he seemed more than willing to surrender. I don't think he meant to draw it out. I think he meant to get our attention"  
The man stared her down. "And what makes you think that? Woman's intuition?"

Little gave a slight smirk. "Animal instinct." She was looking over the monitors. "He's being taken to the holding chamber. Will you address him?"

He nodded. "Follow me. Hill, you have the con."

"Aye, sir."

They moved through the halls of the helicarrier and towards the large room where Loki was being put into the large containment cell. Once there, Little stood to the side and watched the exchange between prisoner and captor begin.

Fury tapped away at the transparent screen before him. "In case it's unclear." Tap, tap, tap. "You try to escape, you even scratch that glass." Another tap and a button press. The floor came away and the air was being sucked out of the room. "Thirty thousand feet! Straight down! In a steel trap!" He tapped and button pressed again. Turning a very angry eye on the prisoner, he narrowed his sole eye. "You get how that works'?" He pointed to Loki. "Ant." He pointed back to the control panel. "Boot."

Loki chuckled and looked about his cage. "An impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

Agent Little openly sneered at the man. She knew why it had been built, but she didn't like his over confidence and cocky demeanor.

Fury frowned. "No, built for something a lot stronger than you.

A smirk came across Loki's face that did not sit well in the stomach of Agent Little. "Oh, I've heard." He turned his face to look directly into the camera. "The mindless beast, makes play to be the man." Loki turned a mocking gaze upon Fury. "How desperate are you? You call on these…_lost _creatures to defend you."

Little began to shift from foot to foot uneasily. She didn't like where this conversation was going and she knew Fury didn't either. Desperation was an act that, though they would admit to, it was not with pride. For SHIELD to ask for the help of others was not what hit them hard, it was the act of openly admitting that they _needed _the assistance. It did not look good if the world's most covert government operation needed help.

Fury stared the man down. "How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war! You steal a force you can't hope to control! You talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun! You have made me _very_ desperate. You might not be glad that yah did."

Loki was enjoying this game far too much. "Oooh, it _burns_ you. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? Then to be reminded what _real _power is!"

The SHIELD director beckoned to Little to follow him. "Yeah, well you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something."

They made their way back to the bridge were the rest of the assembled 'team' was waiting for any sort of news and helpful advice. Once there Little took a seat beside Romanoff. The thought crossed her mind that it might be good for the two of them to work together again. It had been some time since their last shared mission and the raven haired agent honestly missed it. They were very alike in countless ways…well…all but one, but what did that matter? There was something in the other that they envied, but that was natural for nearly all people. Little would be the first to admit she was jealous of Romanoff's skill at extracting information from people, and at the same time she knew that Romanoff was just a bit jealous of her abilities when it was needed as far as camouflage was concerned.

Little leaned closer to the fiery haired woman. "Any news on Barton?"

Romanoff shook her head. "No, unfortunately. All we have is what we know. Loki's got him under his control. From what we have gathered, though, is that he is still aware of who he is and what his memories are."

The mutant shook her head. "That's a far cry from helpful on our end."

"You said it."

The women had been ignoring the conversation held amongst the men until Selvig was brought into question.

Romanoff nodded. "Loki has him under some kind of spell." She glanced to her left and locked eyes with Little for half a second. "Along with one of ours."

There was an obvious strain to be seen in Little's eyes.

The captain spoke up. "I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading any army from here."

Banner gave a little snort. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him."

Thor turned a warning glare upon the scientist. "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother."

Little scoffed and leaned back in her chair. "He's killed eighty people in two days."

The God of Thunder looked for the word necessary to pull him out of the hole in which he just found himself. "He's…adopted."

Banner waved off the topic and quickly changed to something he actually cared about. "What about the iridium? What did they need the iridium for?"

If anyone aside from the doctor had any idea they were keeping quiet. What was Banner expecting? It's not like they were all geniuses with degrees and experience in this sort of thing. Most of them were, quite honestly, full of common sense and street smarts that when combined with superhuman abilities made them the perfect kind of hired muscle.

The group was interrupted by the rather boisterous entrance of one Mr. Tony Stark. "It's a stabilizing agent!" He turned back to Coulson with whom he was walking. "Look, pick a weekend and I'll fly you out to Portland to see her." He returned his focus to the group. "It's so that the portal won't collapse in on itself like it did back at SHIELD." As the man practically strutted right on by Thor he gave the God's arm a nice swat. "No hard feelings, Point Break, you've got a mean swing." Returning his rather spastic attention back to the group he continued. "Also, it means the portal can stay open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." The man paused for a moment to reach into his pocket. "Agent Little, I brought something for you." He tossed a bone shaped dog biscuit onto the table in front of her. He went right to the center where Fury usually stood, ignoring the not-so-gentle _thunk! _of what he was certain was a doggie treat bouncing off the back of his head. Oh, he couldn't deny himself this one moment. "All hands to stations! Ship to topsails! Raise the mizzenmast!" He spotted a man a few rows down and close to the edge. "That man is playing _Galaga! _Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did!"

The group watched the man's display with a sense of annoyance and distaste. Most of this came from the captain who wasn't one for the flashy and arrogant type. Little, on the other hand, was fighting to stifle the giggles that threatened to burst forth. She was always one for self control and keeping with regulations and blah…blah…blah…but there were times when she just had to laugh. In her heart she truly feared that it would be Tony Stark who undid all her training and self control.

Stark looked at the monitors and covered one eyes before turning this way and that. "How does Fury even see these things?"

Agent Hill, who was growing tired of his games, answered with a very plain, "He turns."

Stark shook himself. "Ugh…Sounds exhausting."

The thought of _Lazy Ass…_went through the minds of well over half of those within earshot of the man at the time.

The man continued. "Now, the rest of the raw materials Agent Barton cane get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density. Something to kick start the cube."

Agent Hill narrowed her eyes at the man. "And when did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

The answer she received was a very cocky. "Last night. The packet. Selvig's notes. The Extraction Theory papers." He looked around in mocking disbelief. "Am I the only one who did the reading?"

**Captain America raised a brow.**** "**Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

**Banner**** shook his head. "**He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

**Stark looked over at Banner. "U**nless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the

quantum tunneling effect."

A grin came to the doctor's face. "Well, if he could do that he could achieve

heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet.  
**A wide and happy smile came to Stark's face. "**_Finally_! Someone who speaks

English!"  
**The captain raised a brow and shared a glance with all the toher perfectly lost **

**faces at the table. "**Is that what just happened?"

**Stark approached the doctor with a hand held out. "**It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled." A small grin passed his lips. "And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.

There was little Banner could say other than, "Thanks."

**In the hopes to stem any attempts from the billionaire to elicit the wrong kind of response from the doctor Fury stepped in.** "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

**Rogers**** nodded. **"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

**Fury**** shook his head a bit.** "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

**Thor****'s brows knitted together in confusion.** "Monkeys? I do not understa—"

**Oh! And how luck should shine up the captain! Finally!** "I do!" The man looked around the table at the eyes staring back at him. "I understood that reference."

Agents Romanoff and Little shared a small smirk of amusement. The two of them sarcastically clapped for the captain's first real feeling of understanding a reference still used in the twenty-first century.

Stark gave Bonner a respectful nod of the head. "Shall we play, Doctor?"

The two men left to go and have their fun in the lab above the bridge.

Little sat back in her chair and watched as the geniuses of the group went of to their lab. She stayed in her seat, still and silent, watching the room move about her. It was a skill she had obtained from her less than human qualities. Like a jungle cat or an owl on the hunt, she could sit and wait, silently, patiently for anything to happen. She would sit in the same unmoving position for so long it was like she had disappeared from the room completely. No one seemed to notice her. No one thought to intrigue upon her. She had been in this sort of frozen state when the captain had been staring at her, except that time she was listening. Agent Little's human form was highly sensitive to the five senses. She had a special knack she truly enjoyed for pissing people off. It never failed, too. They might be arguing about an ingredient in a dish or the difference between two colors and she'd always be more than happy to prove them both wrong. However, it was times like these that she kept her eyes open and watching. The only things about her that ever moved when she was like this were her eyes. She heard and saw so much that most people would never realize was happening, such as the fly that was buzzing around the room looking for escape or the agent that was indeed playing _Galaga _and shirking responsibility. She'd deal with him in a moment. Currently, the mutant was listening in on conversations and soaking in whatever knowledge she could from them. She didn't care about Agent Beauchamp's boyfriend or Agent Kyle's mother-in-law. Those conversations meant little. It was the conversations about the situation at hand.

She had been sitting there, silent and still, for nearly half an hour. So much had occurred in that time she was forcing herself to out the unnecessary information. She had heard Romanoff's decree of Loki's plan to unleash Doctor Banner's alter ego, but she knew that if Natasha was working on it she would be unneeded. She kept her eyes and ears open until something interesting fell upon them. One of the younger agents, a new fellow with just enough experience to get him assigned to this detail, was trying to get Agent Hill's attention. She, however, was busy with other business at the time. In a motion that spooked those who had forgotten Little was even in the room the woman stood and made her way through the rows of computers and to the young man. "What's going on?"

The man had hardly even heard her approach and jumped slightly when there was suddenly a woman standing behind him. "In-Incoming jet. Unknown."

She took the headset from him and dialed it to the jet's communication. "Unknown aircraft, what is your hull?"

"_Arms to ammunition."_

She could see the craft through the large windows. They weren't landing…Why weren't they landing!

It was then that she could hear the din of the argument in the lab above the bridge. Little tossed the headset down. "Keep an eye on that bird!" She moved quickly off the bridge and to the lab above. Something in her told her that this was an argument both worth being a part of and worth witnessing. That and it may be necessary to suppress any potential dangers being born within the lab. Her hand was inches away from inputting the code that would unlock the door when it all happened.


	4. Something to Avenge

**A/N Chugga chugga chugga chugga! Chugga chugga chugga chugga! CHOO CHOO! Teehee, I'm a train ^_^**

**Note how it's in this chapter I fuddle with the movie just a bit. Half of this is to incorporate Little and the other half is because, though I have seen the movie four times at this point, you can't expect me to remember every little detail. I do have sites up with the majority of the movie's quotes, but if it's not there I'm flying almost blind. Gotta cut me some slack ^_^**

**Chapter Four: Something to Avenge**

The massive explosion threw Agent Little like a rag doll into the wall behind her. Her head smacked against the panel, making her see the most wondrous of stars for a few moments. The argument had quite obviously been ended. Her ears were ringing, but she could still hear the faint sounds of people rushing to their posts and working on getting the ship back into proper shape. In her right ear she could hear Agent Hill proclaiming that engine three was down. She shook her head, blinked her eyes, and willed herself to ignore the pulsing throb in the back of her head. She heard Fury address Stark and Rogers on getting out to the engine. She listened as Natasha claimed that she and whoever else had fallen through the floor with her were alright. With a grimace, Little pushed herself back onto her feet just in time to stand face to face with Fury. Nothing was said. The man only grabbed her by the arm and practically dragged her back down to the bridge with him.

Agent Hill was currently working on getting the engine issue squared away when they approached. "Sir, if we lose one more engine we're gunna drop."

He nodded and turned to the man navigating the ship. "Get us over water!"

"Sir! The ship's navigation is still recalibrating after the explosion?"

Oh…How the world was just _filled_ with idiots…

"Is the sun coming up?"

The agent behind the control cowered slightly. "Y-Yes…"

Fury's one eye was practically bulging with impatience. "Then put it on the left!"

"Aye, Sir!"

The man turned back to the raven-haired woman. He was about to issue her an order when a loud cry from Hill got their attention.

"Grenade!"

All those within earshot hit the deck as the second explosion shook the bridge.

Fury acted quickly. He hid for a moment while two SHIELD agents entered the room with weapons aloft. He left the first past, but grabbed the second. Disarming the hostiles was the easy part. Once he and Agent Hill dispatched those two he took cover behind a table. Each time a hostile tried to worm their way into the bridge he or Hill would do the honors of taking them out.

An announcement screamed over the PA. "We've got Thor and The Hulk on Four!"

Agent Hill cast a worried glance at Fury. "Sir! The Hulk will tear this place apart!"

Fury nodded. "Then get his attention!" He turned his head and shouted into the crowd of people behind him. "Little!"  
The woman appeared at Fury's side in record time. "Sir?"

"Find Coulson and get to Loki! Make sure he doesn't escape!"

She nodded. "Yes, Sir!"

Fury watched as she began to shrink beside him. It was always an unsettling thing for him to witness her change. There was something in his mind that was perfectly alright with superhuman strength, speed, or skill…even Banner's change didn't bother him. The Hulk was still somewhat human-like. Little…she was something totally different. It bothered him that a five-foot-five woman just shrank her entire body down and changed species from human to rat. He watched as she scampered out of the bridge unnoticed by the hostiles. Something about her scurrying little form actually made a shiver run down his spine. It wasn't often that something did that. His thoughts stayed on the woman until another figure appeared in the doorway.

Little scurried and scampered through running feet and stomping boots undetected. No one was going to notice a rat at a time like this. She hurried until she finally located Coulson. Pushing as much energy as she could she shifted back into a two-legged form as quickly as she could. "Coulson!"

The man swung around to face her.

"You and me need to get to Loki and make certain he _does not _get off this ship!"

He nodded. "Follow me!"

The SHIELD agents went through the halls as both a brisk and relaxed pace. To run was to risk the chance of running into someone or something and that would only slow them down further. Little followed Coulson as he made his way into an armory kept aboard the ship. Her eyes widened as he picked up a weapon that looked like it had jumped right out of a sci-fi movie and into his hands.

"What is _that_?"

Coulson looked down at the weapon as they made their way to the room where the prisoner was being held. When they got to the room the man turned to Agent Little. "I don't care what you turn into, just make sure Loki doesn't see you."

She was about to protest, but Coulson outranked her and she had made a habit of not arguing with senior agents. Instead, she just nodded and once again began to shrink down into an average looking rat.

The man nodded and opened the door. He felt Little scamper past him and into the room, hopefully to a well sought out hiding place until she was needed.

Agent Little had, indeed, found a spot where she would go unnoticed. She had climbed up a pole and was sitting on a beam, looking down on the scene unfolding. Loki had managed to trick Thor and trapped him in the glass cage. That made her feel like chewing on her pink tail with worry. Loki was taunting his brother as he stood by the controls, readying to drop the cage at any moment.

"The humans think us immortal. Shall we test that?" There was a wry smirk on the god's face as he tapped a few times on the control panel. He was just about to open the floor and drop the cage when someone interrupted him.

"Move away, please."

Loki looked up and realized he was staring at a man holding a weapon that did indeed look formidable, even if it was a mere human invention. The man stepped back from the control panel and held his hands aloft.

Coulson smirked. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer." He chuckled a little. "Even I don't know what it does." Coulson hit a button and the weapon came alive with energy. "Wanna find out?"

What happened next elicited a cry from the man trapped within the glass cage and a squeak of dismay from the hiding rat.

Loki, in all his trickery, was suddenly behind Coulson while a simple image of himself stood before the man. He thrust the sharp prongs of his scepter into Coulson's back and watched as the man dropped.

Little watched from her vantage point, her heart pounding and fighting the urge to drop from her spot as an elephant or something that might crush the man who had just killed one of the most liked agents in SHIELD. She watched as he slowly opened the floor. Thor stepped away from the glass and looked down. She could tell by the look on his face that he knew his number was up. Loki pressed the button with a look of sheer glee as the cage fell away. At that point she could hear Fury's voice in her ear piece. SHIELD had rigged a very special sort of com link for the shape-shifting agent. It was Barton! Barton was doing this! She was about to leave Coulson and ignore Fury's direct orders, but protocol rooted her little paws to that rail. The urge, however, only grew when she heard Natasha answer back that she was on it. She wanted to be there!

Loki was about to leave when quiet words uttered from Coulson stopped him dead in his tracks.

"You're going to lose…"

The newly freed man turned a venomous gaze upon the dying figure. "Am I?"

Coulson gave a huff of agreement coupled with what was his best attempt at a wry smirk. "It's in your nature."

Loki looked upon the man with malice. "Your heroes are scattered. Your flying fortress is falling from the sky. Tell me, where is my disadvantage?"

Little's tiny heart began to pound ever faster. Loki had made some excellent points. She had felt the lurch and drop as engine one was taken out. She had seen Thor disappear with her own eyes. The voices in her right ear were ringing with constant updates about the state of things. Banner was gone. Thor was gone. They were falling from the sky at a heart wrenching pace. Where was Loki's disadvantage?

The god looked perfectly enraged at the answer he received.

"You lack conviction."

Oh, if rats could smirk.

Loki sneered. "I don't think I—"

Coulson fired off the mystery weapon. The blast sent Loki through the opening and into the hall where he caused a massive dent into the panel. He chuckled slightly. "So that's what it does…"

Little dropped from her vantage point as a rat and landed as a kneeling human beside Coulson. She looked over his wounds and knew there was nothing anyone could do in time. Instead, she touched the com link in her ear. "Fury! Coulson's hit!" She turned worried eyes on the man. "Stay with me, Coulson. It's gunna be alright."

The man gave a little smirk. He looked at Little with knowing eyes. He knew. "Yeah…It'll be alright…"

Little fought the tears forming in her eyes. This was her fault…wasn't it?

Coulson gave her arm a pat. "Don't blame yourself…"

At that moment Fury arrived on the scene with a medical team hot on his heals. The SHIELD director was in a hurry and didn't want anyone in his was so Little was pushed to the side where she leaned against the paneling. From there the shape-shifter watched Coulson through sad eyes.

Fury knelt before the man.

"I'm sorry, Boss. The guy rabbited."

Fury shook his head. "Just stay awake. Eyes on _me_."

Coulson's head lulled back and forth slowly. "Nah…I'm clockin' out, here."

The SHIELD Director's lips pursed. "Not an option!" It sounded almost like a plea.

The dying man gave a grim smile. "It's okay, Boss. This was never gunna work anyway…They didn't have…They didn't have anything to…"

Little watched Coulson's eyes as they slid to a half-closed position and the light began to fade. She didn't deny herself the moment to clench her eyes shut and curl her lips in as she felt the urge to cry become almost overpowering when a medical team arrived to check on everyone. Little had been around when agents were lost before and it didn't bother her, but Coulson was different. He was everyone's go-to guy if they needed anything. He was the one who could answer any question or would be willing to help in any situation. He may not have been on the frontline in fights, but he was always the voice in your ear that'd get you out of a jam. He would be sorely missed.

Fury fought the urge to punch the closest living thing to him. Instead, he solemnly spoke through the com links. "Coulson's down."

_"There's a med team on the way!"_

He shook his head. "They're here. They called it."

Little stood there and just stared as the medical team on site took Coulson's body away. Her heart clenched with grief and guilt. He told her not to blame herself, but how could she not? Had she disobeyed him and done something, _anything, _he might still be alive. She could have leapt down from her rail and squashed Loki beneath some large animal. She could have turned human and given a shout that distracted the god in time for Coulson to fire the weapon and release Thor from the containment chamber. She could have done _something_. Never before had she bothered her mind with deaths in SHIELD. It was an often enough occurrence that it was an idea pushed to the back of the minds of the majority of the staff. Yet…How does one ignore it when it's _their fault_? The answer to that question was quite simple:

_They don't._


	5. A Worthy Name

**A/N Well…this is awkward…I don't know what to say in my Author's Note…-slowly inches away-**

**I've got it! Anyone notice how Natasha hit Barton's head against that railing pretty hard…but no bruise? Gotcha there, Hollywood!**

**More poking and prodding at Little's past! **

**Chapter Five: A Worthy Name**

The fortress was no longer falling. Stark and Rogers had managed to get engine three back online. The crew on the bridge was working on engine one. Things were progressing smoothly enough. Fury had called those who were part of the Avengers Initiative and weren't busy back to the bridge. He wanted to address them on behalf of Coulson. The man's dying words plagued him. Fury knew what Coulson had wanted to say. Now, now he would give them that final push that they needed to stop all the bickering and fighting and work _together_…or so he hoped. He stood before Stark, Rogers, and Little. In his mind he had tossed the SHIELD agent into the already dangerous chemical mixture of personalities. She had been there. It would be wrong of him to refuse her a chance at getting back at Loki. Hell, Stark hadn't made the list in the first place but he was amongst them now. Fury was shuffled a small deck of trading cards in his hands. He had to deny himself a little grin. This was a necessary deception.

Fury turned to those sitting at the table. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." He slid the top card to the bottom. "Guess he never did get you to sign them." He tossed the deck at Rogers. The cards were stained with red.

Rogers leaned forward and picked up one of the cards. He stared at the image of himself saluting while holding his first shield. Memories…

Fury continued. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications. Location of the cube. Banner. Thor. I got nothin' for you." He turned and looked out the large window. "Lost my one good eye…but maybe I had that comin'." He took a breath. "Yes, we were planning on building an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something _more_. See if they could work together when we _needed_ them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea." And pause for dramatic effect! "In heroes."

Stark had had enough of this. He didn't need someone patronizing him. He stood and stalked out of the room. Losing Coulson wasn't going to be easy, but people get over things, right? Anyway, he'd rather not continue listening to Fury's supposed pep talk. His words hit home, that was true, but there was something about them…something that felt far too rehearsed for him to bear. He made his way to the containment room where Coulson had died.

Fury watched him go. "Well…It's an old-fashioned notion."

Little saw sitting across from the captain. She stared at him almost as intently as he had stared at her the first time they had met. In her mind she was reworking a few ideas to make being part of a _team _worth it. In her past they had wanted her to be part of a team…but it didn't work out. She was good with a partner or just going at it alone. Being part of a team had never fit her personality. She didn't like feeling like a burden or having someone burden her. Maybe…just maybe, though, she could learn to work with these people. Most of them seemed to like going at it alone, maybe that was the one quality that would tie them together.

Rogers looked up to see her staring at him.

There was a silent exchange between the two. They sat there, staring for a solid two minutes. Nothing was said. No one moved. Yet, somehow, at the same time they nodded and stood. There was work to be done.

Rogers went off to locate Stark while Little made her way through the halls to find Romanoff and Barton. The woman walked with purpose through the halls and was avoided by all she approached. Many of them pressed against the walls or detoured into a hall they didn't need. It wasn't because of Coulson. It wasn't because of her power. It was because of the stern, no nonsense look plastered on her face. The woman was on a mission and practically charging down the dead center of each hall she encountered.

It wasn't long before she had found her way to the room where Natasha had taken Barton. She could hear their conversation easily as her steps slowed to a halt. Little stood in the hallway and waited. They didn't sound as though interrupting them was a good idea. As she stood there she could not deny the touch of green envy that danced across her mind. There was a part of her that truly would not mind hearing Barton say her name in that same, caring way he said Natasha's. For a moment, Agent Little was lost in a day dream. It was just getting to a good part when she realized that this was _not _the time for girly fantasies! Squaring her shoulders and holding her head high she advanced to the door. It was open. She poked her head in the doorway and soon followed with her body. Her fellow agents were seated on the bed. At first Little was confused as to why the man wasn't tied down or being held. Her stance went from easy to guarded in her own ready-to-pounce sort of way.

Natasha looked at the woman and gave a short nod. "It's alright, Little. He's clear."

Barton stared at the raven-haired woman with a small smirk on his face. "Glad to know yah trust me, Kaleigh."

She narrowed her eyes at him in both a friendly and threatening manner as a small smile played on her lips. "How many times have I told you _not _to call me that?" So what if she enjoyed it? Agent Little simply loathed her first name. She'd actually prefer people to call her by her childhood nickname that stemmed from her middle name, but even that would be annoying. Even so, she had to admit she didn't entirely dislike when he called her by her first name. He was probably one of the few people who even knew it. Little was certain she could count how many people in SHIELD who knew her name off the top of their heads on one hand when everyone else had to look at her file.

From where he was sitting, Barton looked Little over. He had worked with her just about as often as Natasha had worked with her. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he was completely envious of her abilities. He and Natasha were super-skilled, whereas she was superhuman. There was a definite envy there. Although, he had seen her try and shoot anything with any kind of weapon. The woman lacked any kind of aim…at all…It was fucking hilarious. He quickly recalled a mission where they were staking out a big time mafia boss and had nothing to do. First, he had handed her his bow just to see if she could even pull it back. When that was settled he gave her an arrow, showed her what to do and told her how to aim. What happened next was priceless. She shot the arrow and got all excited when it seemed to be going in the right direction…but then it missed. Her face got all red and she asked to try again. Seven arrows later she still had completely missed a very large target. Barton couldn't deny that her face getting all red and her pouting was actually kinda…cute. Since that day, as far as he knew, Little had refused any kind of weapon that dealt with shooting or throwing. She preferred a much more hands-on experience.

Little gave a little nod. "So, I see Loki's out of your head."

He returned the nod. "Yeah. I've got a horrible headache though from Tasha smashing my head against a rail. It worked though."

She turned her attention to the redhead. "Got a plan, yet? It seems the captain has a pretty strong sense of direction."

Natasha leaned forward on her elbows. "We've gotta stop him. Simple as that."

Her fellow agents nodded. That was definitely an agreeable statement.

Little looked at the two agents sitting on the bench. She tolerated Fury, but was easily annoyed by his demanding nature. She and Hill got along but that's because the most interaction they ever had was a passing nod in the hallway. Coulson had been one of her favorite people to work with. He was a great guy…but…She shook her head. Romanoff and Barton were the only two SHIELD agents she had actually _worked _with. Others she had the seniority to bark orders at and others had the seniority to bark orders at her. That's what it was like for her. It was the knowledge, though, that she would be working with these two people on the same team that made being a team player just a little bit easier for her to deal with.

Barton stood and walked into the small bathroom. He grabbed a towel and doused it in cold water. His head seriously freaking _hurt_. As he looked in the mirror he was quite surprised that a massive bruise wasn't beginning to form along the hairline. He was certain Natasha had whacked his head hard enough on the rail for that! Ah well, the bruise would probably show up later…

Meanwhile, Little was leaning against the wall and staring through curly black bangs at Barton's back. She heaved a sigh and just watched him as her mind wandered off into the daydream she had been having not long ago.

Aaaaand back to reality, Agent Little!

Natasha cleared her throat to get the woman's attention.

Little raised a brow at her in silent questioning.

With a smirk, Natasha wiggled her brows and nodded her head in Barton's direction.

Red splashed across Little's face as she shook her head, making her curls dance, and gave Natasha one of those I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about sort of looks.

The woman just gave a little shrug and smirked. Of course Little knew what she was talking about. A woman doesn't just _stare _so intensely at a man's back and heave one of _those _sighs for nothing. She had told Loki that she thought love was for children when he inquired if she loved Barton. That was half of the truth. Barton was like a brother to her. She loved him in that sense of the word. Love, though, real, honest love was something she couldn't see herself partaking in. That was probably because she doubted there was a man in the world that could truly get past her walls and guards and not have her see through his bullshit.

Whatever thoughts any of them were having were interrupted when Captain America in full suit came to the room. "Time to go."

Natasha and Little shared a look before the former asked, "Go where?"

"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?"

She shook her head, but there was a silver lining.

Barton walked out of the bathroom. He was drying his hands off from the previous wet rag. "I can."

The captain looked at the two women. They nodded to him that Barton was safe. The man turned back to the newly reformed agent. "You got a suit?"

"Yeah."

Captain America looked at the three faces in the room, issuing the decree to all of them. "Then suit up."

The three quickly went their separate directions. Little found her way to her personal quarters and knelt before her bed. Though she continued to move quickly it seemed that time had begun to slow down. She reached under the bed and pulled out a large shoebox that had once held a large pair of men's combat boots. She flipped the lid off and pulled out what was inside. At her last home she had been given a uniform just like everyone else. Each one, of course, had a flair to it that made it stand out just a bit from all the others. Hers was a sleeveless one-piece suit that went only to her knees. Where there had once been a large X on her left breast had long since been replaced with the SHIELD logo. Little had set eyes on this uniform in over four years. She had been with SHIELD for a year when she replaced the first logo and that was the last time she had seen the get-up. Now it was time to don the outfit once more and run along side a team. Taking a breath she quickly changed from the full body one-piece into the only slightly less covering suit. She kicked her boots under the slim bed and ran barefoot back out. With her com link still in she listened as the captain told them to meet up on deck.

She was the first of the three SHIELD agents going to get there. It was with a small dip of the head that she greeted both the captain and…ugh…Stark. She was still pretty jaded over the dog comments.

The captain looked her over and his eyes stuck on her feet. "No shoes?"

A smirk came to her face as Barton and Romanoff could be seen approaching. "Animals don't wear shoes, Cap."

When everyone was gathered, the man in what was referred to as a "spangley" outfit quickly laid out the scene. They were heading straight to Manhattan. No stops. No detours. It was going to be a straight shot to their destination. There were nods all around. Stark was going to leave first and get there in time to hopefully stall Loki by whatever means necessary…which they all knew meant sarcasm and being a smart ass. The rest of them piled into the back of a jet as Stark made to leave.

An agent tried his best to stop them. "You guys aren't authorized to be in here!"

Captain America wasn't having any such nonsense today. No, sir. "Son! Just don't."

Barton and Romanoff quickly climbed into their proper seats as the agent dashed out from beneath the captain's stern gaze. The jet gave a lurch as they departed from the helicarrier. Little remained standing as they flew, keeping her eyes on everything around them. She had seen Loki at work, if only for a short period of time, buts that's all she needed. One never knew what the trickster might do.

The captain stood beside her. "I was curious, Agent Little, if you don't mind my asking, do you have a name of sorts?"

Her left brow arched smoothly as she stared at him. "Well, I believe my parents named me Kaleigh, though I've always wanted to fight it." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Captain America shook his head. "Now certainly is not the time for sarcasm, Miss."

She chuckled. "I'm sorry, Captain." Her brow furrowed slightly as she brought the memories forth. Little had tried the past five years to forget her life with her fellow x-gene possessing population. She had spent time trying to think of a new name, but none ever came to mind. None that would suit her. Her head dipped in a nod. "Yes. They called me 'Fauna,' as in the Earth's flora and fauna."

The man was about to inquire further, but there was a pained, far-off look in Little's strangely vivid eyes that made him simply nod instead.

Meanwhile, on the airship, Fury watched and listened as the unauthorized departure. He glanced at Hill. "They found it." He turned his attention fully to the woman and those working at their desks. "Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do! I want eyes on everything!"

Hill nodded. "Yes, sir!"

It was _on._


	6. Smash!

**A/N Anyone else love the Chitauri? No? Just me?**

**Oh, the gentle pokings and proddings of the initial mention of attraction. What fun ^_^**

**Chapter Six: Smash!**

Stark was well ahead of the jet an on his way to Stark Tower. All that crossed his mind was if that son of a bitch had done any damage to his beloved tower that he and Pepper had worked so hard on he was going to be _pissed! _As it was, he arrived upon a still intact building with no major modifications aside from the portal-opening machine planted on the rooftop. That wasn't good.

"Shut it down, Dr. Selvig!"

Selvig turned his icy colored eyes upon the iron-plated man. "It's too late! It can't stop now. He wants to show us something! A new universe." His voice seemed enthralled in the idea of something new and exciting like this.

Stark, however, was having none of this. He raised his arms. "Okay." He fires off a beam that was supposed to destroy the portal but all that happened was that he was knocked well away from the tower.

The almost soothing voice of Jarvis spoke through the helmet. "The barrier is pure energy. It's unbreechable."

Stark grimaced. "Yeah. Got that."

Movement below caught his eye. It was Loki! He was standing there, just staring at the man and waiting. Stark nodded. "Jarvis, I think it's time for Plan B."

"But, sir, the Mach Seven isn't ready for deployment."

Always one for a quick joke, Stark chided the artificial intelligence. "Then skip the spinning rims! We're on the clock." He said no more before landing on the specially made platform. Walking across the deck mechanical arms reached out and removed the Iron Man suit from Stark as he locked eyes with Loki from across the way. He was more than a little pissed off and his job was to stall Loki as best he could. Well, there was only one way Stark knew how to successfully stall a man.

As the two men met in the penthouse, Loki smirked. "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."

Stark returned the smirk. "Uh...actually, I'm planning to threaten you."

The god's smirk grew. This was too easy! "You should have left your armor on for that."

Stark shook his head. "Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage. You've got the blue stick of destiny." He went over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of liquor. "Would you like a drink?"

A knowing flash passed through Loki's eyes. "Stalling me won't change anything."

The genius shook his head. "No, no! Threatening." He held up a glass. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one." He opened the decanter and readied to pour himself a nice glass of scotch.

Loki narrowed his eyes at the man. "The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers."  
_Avengers…? _A curious look played over Loki's features.

Stark gave a shrug. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

Ah, yes, those buffoons. "Yes, I've met them."

Stark nodded as he poured his drink. "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here." He looked up at Loki. "Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins; a woman who can turn into the biggest and baddest beasts this planet has to offer, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them." All during his speech Stark was putting two very special bracelets upon his wrists. They were designed so that all he needed to do was to tell Jarvis to deploy the Mach Seven Iron Man model and it would find him.

Loki smirked. "That was the plan."

Stark wagged a finger at him as he took a drink. "Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

Idle threats were no longer amusing the villain. "I have an army."

Again, another opportunity for a slight gag. "We have a Hulk."

For the umpteenth time, a cocky smirk passed Loki's face. "I thought the beast had wandered off."

Stark walked up to the man. "You're missing the point. There's _no_ throne, there is _no_ version of this, where _you_ come out on top. _Maybe_ your army comes and _maybe_ it's too much for us, but it's all on _you_. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it." There was a deadly look in the man's eyes as he laid it all out for Loki.

A wry grin came to Loki's face. "How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?"

Loki powered up the scepter and touched to Stark chest…but it didn't work! He tried again and it was the same results! He had no idea what was wrong…but Stark did. A knowing smirk came to the man's face. Saved by science!

Loki frowned. "This usually works."

Stark bobbed his head from side to side. "Well, performance issues. Yah know? They say one out of five me—"

_I__n his infinite anger, Loki grabbed Stark by the throat and hurled him across the room as though he weighed no more than a child's plaything._

Pushing himself off the ground, Stark grimaced. "Jarvis, anytime now."

Loki walked up and lifted Stark by the throat from his position. He sneered in the man's face. "You will all fall before me."_ He then threw__ Stark out the window, hoping to soon hear the sound of the man splattering like a dropped egg on the concrete far below._

_Stark__ had a different idea. As it seemed, the Mach Seven wasn't as far from completion as they thought. Using the homing bracelets, Jarvis sent the rather cylindrical object out the window and after the falling man. They locked onto the bracelets and within moments Stark was once again adorned in his Iron Man suit. He hit the thrusters and jetted back to the top of Stark Tower._

Loki was rather surprised to see the man still alive.

"And there's one other person you pissed off! His name is Phil." Venom dripped from Stark's voice in this final decree.

Loki was tired of the games. He gave the order for Selvig to open the portal.

Stark looked up as a huge hole opened in the sky above central Manhattan. Through this opening extraterrestrial beings began to flood the skies. Inside Iron Man's helmet everything shifted from neutral to battle-ready.

"Army. Right."

With no hesitation he flew upwards and directly into the fray of enemies. He sent off blast after blast and launched the tiny, but effective missiles from his suit. It all did little to stem the flow. He had to try though! A thought crossed his mind. Where were the others? Shaking it from his thoughts, Stark focused on ridding their atmosphere of these dangerous creatures.

Finally, salvation!

Romanoff's voice rang through his helmet. "Stark! We're headed north-east!"

He blasted a Chitauri out of the sky. "What? Did you stop for drive-thru?" A band of the monstrous creatures were hot on his tail. "Swing up Park! I'm gunna lay 'em out for yah!" He hit the gas and let the Chitauri follow him right to their ends as the machine gun attached to the quinjet unloaded round after countless round into the pack.

Loki watched as the SHIELD aircraft took out a small bit of his army. He frowned. Grabbing hold of his scepter he let lose a bolt of energy that took out one of their engines.

Inside the now falling jet Barton called out for everyone to hold on tight. He was going to try his best for a soft landing. Wouldn't that just be great if he didn't, though? Ha! That would take out half the team if this landing ended badly. He gripped the controls and tried his best not to nose into the ground. Gritting his teeth a moment he landed the bird belly-first with no more than a nasty jolt to the riders. Hell, it was better than crashing! Romanoff hit the switch and the four of them ran into the streets below.

Captain America looked back up Stark Tower to where the machine holding the portal open was. "We've gotta get back up there!"

"Uh…Captain?"

The man turns an eye onto the raven-haired woman who is pointing at the opening in the sky.

Holy mother…

Meanwhile, atop the Stark Tower, Thor has arrived in full armor. He's both ready to fight and to reason with Loki. Perhaps…Perhaps he can get his brother to see reason and end this foolish scheme! He stood and looked for his brother. "Loki!"

With a noticeable swagger in his step, the villain made his entrance.

Thor glared at him. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!"

Loki returned the gaze from where he stood. "You can't! There is no stopping it!" He locked heated eyes with his supposed brother. "There is only the war!"

To hell with reason!

"So be it!"

The siblings began to duel on the deck of the Stark Tower. Neither magic nor muscle could gain a foothold of power over the other. They were too evenly matched. Thor's statement to Coulson about Bilgesteim came to mind suddenly. They were destroying part of the Tower during their battle and honestly didn't care about it. Rails, glass, and even the large letters on the side were destroyed. Rubble fell from the top of the tower and to the streets below where more and more Chitauri were pouring through the portal, followed by a massive creature that all of those watching equated to "space whale." This was going to be a fight none of them would ever forget.

On the ground the captain hailed their ally. "Stark! Are you seeing this?"

"_Seeing. Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"_

The four on the ground shared a confused look.

"Banner?"

"_Just keep me posted."_

Iron Man followed the large, flying creature. "Jarvis! Find me a soft spot!"

Back on the ground a squadron of Chitauri landed about thirty or forty yards away from the grounded Avengers and they were quickly closing the gap. What plagued the minds of the heroes were the trapped civilians. They needed to get those people to safety.

Rogers looked at the group. "Think you can hold 'em off?"

Little and Romanoff exchanged knowing smirks as Barton arrow for flight. He joined in the good-humored look. "Sir, it'd be my genuine pleasure." He nocked the arrow and let it fly directly into the eye socket of a Chitauri warrior. Once embedded the head of the arrow randomly fired off small bullets into the surrounding enemies.

The captain nodded as he then ran off to aid the police in getting those who were getting caught in the crossfire to safety.

Little nodded to the others. "You do what you do. I'll deal with them!" She pointed to a group of five or six warriors.

Romanoff nodded and pulled out her trusty pistols.

Before she could run off, however, the archer grabbed her by the upper arm. Her lavender-blue eyes openly showed the shock of his sudden contact.

Barton looked at her sternly. "Be careful."

If this had been any other time or perhaps in a movie where the actors always seemed to have all the time in the world Agent Little probably would have planted a kiss on Barton. However, time was of the essence and it was necessary to get as many of the monstrous Chitauri down as possible. Instead of the clichéd romantic departure she just nodded her head sternly and leapt away.

Barton watched her go as he fired off two arrows. The skill he had with the bow made it almost unnecessary to even look where he was aiming. He just…knew…Now he watched as Little nimbly jumped into the hood of a car and used the height to launch herself at one of the Chitauri. For just a moment it took his breath away to see her leave the car as a human and land on one of the warriors as a massive tigress. It was one thing to say a person would fight "tooth and nail" for a cause, but Little lived that idiom each day of her life. Barton kept an eye on her out of the corner of his eye. She was powerful, yes, but she was exposed. Sure…they first had to get past her claws and teeth…Sure…they had to pin down a woman who could in an instant become something bigger or smaller…Yeah…He still felt a twinge of worry. However! Barton shook his head and ignored the feeling. It was dangerous to be anything more than friends with coworkers…right?

Natasha was laughing. "It's like Budapest all over again!"

With a _thwang! _he launched off another arrow. "You and I remember Budapest very differently!"

The continued to fight off the Chitauri as they worked on freeing stranded civilians from within a city bus. Barton allowed himself time to focus completely on the task of retrieving the people and getting them to safety without worrying over the enemy when the snarling tigress became a stampeding elephant. It was almost enough to bring an amused smirk to his face as a now massive, grey Agent Little trumpeted in victory as she trampled a group of Chitauri.

At that moment Thor arrived to lend a helping hand in anyway he could, but he was also the bearer of bad news. "The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

Stark spoke to them through their com links. _"Thor's right. We gotta deal with these guys."_

In order to communicate with the team, Little shrank back down to a normal size and (subconsciously) stood in closer proximity than necessary to Barton. "How do we do this?"

Captain America looked at those around him and spoke with confidence. "As a team."

Thor's brows knitted together. "I have unfinished business with Loki."

Barton, who was adjusting some of his newly gathered arrows, shot a look at the god. "Yeah? Get in line."

Little put a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, Hawkeye." She gave him a look that relayed the fact that Thor was family and therefore should have the first shot at kicking Loki's teeth down his throat.

The captain looked at the two men. "Save it. Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what _we_ need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us—"

The sputtering and sighing of a weak engine pulled them out of their discussion to see Doctor Banner approaching on what could have easily been mistaken as a child's toy motorbike.

The man dismounted the bike and just let it sort of fall to the ground. He looked at them and then all around. "So, this all seems…horrible."

Romanoff gave him a look. "I've seen worse." She wouldn't deny the fact that he still slightly frightened her.

He very sheepishly apologized.

She shook her head. "No, we could use a little worse."

Captain America smirked. Did Stark ever get tired of being right? "Stark, we got him, Banner, just like you said."

"_Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."_

At that moment Iron Man came flying around a turn with a leviathan hot on his tale.

Little shook her head and took a slight step backwards. "I don't see how that's a party."

Rogers looked to the man who would probably be the only one able to stop the massive beast. "Dr. Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry."

Banner smirked and started walking towards the creature that was barreling along in his direction. "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry." In a fantastic display of control that they were all certain the doctor had previously denied having the man quite easily turned into the huge green rage monster (as Stark liked to call it). Just as the leviathan was about to swallow him whole, the Hulk smashed his fist down upon its face. The force of his blow caused the creature to scrunch and roll, causing its hard armor plating to break away. It was the perfect opening for Stark to plant an explosive in its flesh, decimating a large portion of the leviathan and bringing its reign of terror to an end.

But there was far more to worry them.

Looking to the skies, Natasha saw the huge flood of Chitauri warriors and leviathan pulsing through the portal in a steady flow. "Uh…Guys!"

Landing amongst the team, Stark nodded to the man in blue. "Call it, Captain."

Just like the old days. Rogers easily assumed command of the situation. "Alright, listen up! Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash." He was pointing to different areas as he spoke.

Barton looked to Stark. "Wanna give me a lift?"

The iron-plated man nodded. "Right. Better clench up, Legolas."

Before Stark could blast off with the archer in hand, Little grabbed his wrist. A slight smirk came to her face. "Be careful." It was only fair that she should get the chance to return his previous sentiment.

Barton gave her a nod and a knowing look before letting Stark shoot into the air and placed him atop the designated building.

The captain continued. "Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning, light the bastards up."

Thor nodded. He swung Mjolnir around and around until he was able to fly up into the air. He aimed for the Empire State building, it being the highest and closest place to the portal.

Rogers turned to Little. "Fauna, get as big, as nasty, or as deadly as you can. Take to the streets or the sky, just bring these suckers _down!_"

She nodded. "Aye, Captain!" With that she dashed off into the streets for about fifty yards before using an overturned car as a vault to leap into the skies. The bystanders watching gasped in amazement as a rather normal looking woman suddenly became a very large bird of prey who attacked the space monsters talons first with shrieks that could only be described as battle cries.

Lastly, he looked to Natasha. "You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here." He turned an eye on the huge green monster. "And Hulk!"

There was an answering grunt.

"Smash!"


	7. The War

**A/N A shout out to Julen for being the first to review this story! You've followed me from one fanfiction to another and I thank you dearly for your loyalty :D Keep bein' awesome, you awesome person you!**

**As to why this update has taken so long: Years ago I named my computer Loki as it was always glitching and tricking me into believing there was actually something wrong with it when there was nothing. Well, not Loki truly lives up to his name because he decided to contract a virus. I just barely saved the start of this chapter before running him off to the doctor. Now, I am borrowing a friend's laptop for a few moments in the hopes to complete this chapter and upload it for all my countless fans ^_^ **

**Chapter Seven: The War**

And so it began.

With the Avengers scattered about the battlefield that was Manhattan they began to take on and take down the Chitauri menace. They knew they'd be hard-pressed. Who wouldn't? It was seven against the countless hordes. They had to try, though, and try they did! Each person fought with a ferocity that demanded attention. To them, losing this war was not an option. They had to do this. They were doing it for SHIELD. They were doing it for Earth. They were doing it for Phil Coulson.

Agent Little tore down the street, rampaging towards a squadron of Chitauri as a very angry rhinoceros. It wasn't her favorite animal to become as she loathed the poor eyesight, but she was deadly and thick skinned which was a good combination at a time like this. She tossed her head and leaned her massive body against the enemies, bring them to the ground. From there she trampled their helpless forms, crushing the life out of them. Each time she finished squashing a group on the ground she'd take flight. Her bird of choice? The harpy eagle. Large and strong, she flew talons first at the Chitauri zooming through the air on their hover sleds. She'd throw the passenger to the ground below and cause the driver to crash. Part of her tried her best to make sure the creatures crashed to the ground instead of plowing into a building. Enough damage was already being done as it was. When she'd had enough of those in the air, she'd dive-bomb back to the streets to take on another squadron. As she fought, Little noticed one valuable piece of intel. The Chitauri warriors simply fought. Their strategy was only to attack anything that moved. They had no formation and no special tactics. It was just brute force.

_"Hey, Fauna!"_

Barton's voice rang in her right ear as she busied herself with bringing down a warrior with a crushing chomp to the leg. Her body was now long, green-black, and scaly with a powerful tail and monstrous jaws. She gripped hard and began to roll around, rending the limb from the Chitauri's body. Once done, she scrambled away from a spear that, though narrowly missing her hind leg, caught the edge of her tail. She hissed in response to the stinging pain. Turning from alligator to human, she made a quick dash to get away from the enemy before responding to Barton's hail. "Yeah?"

_"If you happen to see any of these fuckers with an arrow in them, could you bring shaft to me? Running out might not be a good idea."_

A Chitauri discovered Little's hiding spot and readied himself for the attack.

She grimaced. Instead of changing, she simply attacked this enemy in human form. Her hand-to-hand combat was advanced, though it paled in comparison to Romanoff's, and sufficed to bring this one enemy down. She heaved a breath. "You got it, Hawkeye. If I see any arrows, I'll bring them to you. No promises!"

_"Move forward! Now!"_

She quickly hopped forward and heard the _thud! _of something crashing to the ground behind her. Turning, there was a Chitauri with an arrow sticking out of its head. She grinned. "Thanks for that."

_"No problem."_

Little looked around. Down the street she could see another group of Chitauri harassing a group of civilians. She frowned. Not today! Her legs pumped liked pistons as she charged towards the group. When she was just yards away it was like she exploded from human and into a polar bear. She barreled into the group, bowling many over as she then reared back and began to swat at them with heavy paws. A thunderous roar erupted from her throat as she fought her way into the middle of the group and back out the other side before wheeling around and going in for more. She was harder pressed than before, this being a larger group of the hostiles, but she continued to fight, ripping and tearing at anything that came close to her paws or mouth. She wouldn't lie that it felt good being given so much freedom with her shape-shifting abilities. There had always been rules on what she could and could not become around civilians. Everything had to be explainable. However…a large polar bear in the middle of Manhattan would raise eyebrows and questions, but it was necessary. Little walked away from the freshly made pile of Chitauri warriors and gave a loud grunt of victory. She had never had so much freedom and it felt amazing! It had never been doubted that she much preferred an animal form over a human one. She'd mentioned it to others before. Humans were so weak and fragile in comparison. True, there were people like Captain America and the Hulk, but they were lab rats.

As Little continued to charge into squadrons of warriors, the other Avengers went about their own work. Stark traveled the perimeter, turning sled after sled away or to ash. He would land occasionally to lend aid to the others around him. After giving a short burst of assistance he would always take to the air once again to ward off more of the invading force. The Captain kept to the ground, taking aide from anyone who'd give him updates via communications. He cleared out a bank of hostages being held by three Chitauri. There, a waitress saw him and felt the awe of being in the same vicinity of a true hero. Meanwhile, the Hulk and Thor were battling it out on the back of a leviathan. Hulk ripped up a sheet of the creature's thick shell and buried it into its back. The God of Thunder called upon the lightening and smashed the large splinter deep into the beast, electrocuting it along the way. Romanoff kept to the ground, battling hand-to-hand with the monsters or using her guns to take them out. She moved gracefully from victim to victim using every skill she knew to bring them down. All the while Barton stayed on his rooftop, watching over everyone and raining deadly arrows down upon the enemy. It wasn't easy work, none of them would ever admit to that, but it was _their _work.

Little had just crashed a group of sleds and was flying low, clawing at anything that wasn't part of this world. As she flew she noticed a pile of dead Chitauri, all with arrows protruding from one spot or another. Deciding a few moments here wouldn't be a waste of time she shifted back into her two-legged form and gathered as many as she could hold before setting them aside. She quickly changed back into the harpy eagle and clutched the arrows in her clawed feet and took to the skies.

Barton saw the large bird heading his way and was, at first, unsure of what to do until a voice in the back of his head called him an idiot and told him it was obviously Little.

She landed on the roof, depositing her clutch of arrows, and hopped onto the railing in front of him. The one thing about Agent Little that never changed no matter how often she turned into something new was her eyes. They always stayed the pale, yet vivid color of lavender-blue. Those eyes were locked onto the archer's at the moment

Barton gave her a nod of appreciation as he loosed an arrow in a random direction that still took out a Chitauri sled.

Little bobbed her feathered head up and down and gave her wings a light flap, returning the nod in her own way. Leaning forward, she gentle nibbled on one of his fingers that wrapped about the handle of his bow. Hey, if you're going to flirt, be creative about it! Little let herself believe that the few moments she spent taking a bit of a breather atop the high building with Barton wouldn't change the course of the war in anyway. She hoped she was right as made quiet warbling sounds while she nibbled his finger.

Barton felt a smirk grow on his face. With his left hand he carefully stroked the top of her head, making sure not to ruffle the feathers there.

She nuzzled into his hand and was half tempted to become a far cuter animal and really enjoy his petting, but now wasn't the time for such frivolous behavior. Enough time had already been wasted on the petting as it was. Shaking out her feathers, she gave a screeching cry before diving off the railing and onto a sled zooming beneath them.

Barton watched her fly off with a grin on his face as he loosed another arrow. She was indeed an interesting creature…

The battle continued. Warrior after warrior fell to the endless onslaught brought forth by the seven-member team. One would not think such a small group could hold off such a large force, but it was happening. They may not have been beating the Chitauri back, but they were certainly holding them at bay.

Natasha stood against an overturned car, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She had one of the Chitauri's staff and was using it as a leaning post. Looking through a curtain of red locks she saw the captain joining her and she shook her head. "Captain, none of this is gunna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

His own chest heaved as he looked up to the skies at the whole piercing their universe. "Our biggest guns couldn't touch it."

A thought suddenly occurred in Natasha's mind. Perhaps…What if… "Well, maybe it's not about guns."

He looked over her with a knowing look. "You wanna get up there, you're gunna need a ride."

A squadron of hover sleds zoomed over their heads.

A smirk came to Natasha's face. "I've gotta ride." She took a few steps backwards, assessing the angle that she was going to need to accomplish this feat. "I could use a lift, though."

Captain America looked around and settled himself into a reasonable position he thought would be the most advantageous to her idea. "You sure about this?"

Though there was no hesitation in her voice, it could easily be seen on her face. "Yeah…It's gunna be fun." She set her feet before bursting whatever energy she had into the miniscule sprint. First she leapt at an overturned car, using it as the first boost of leverage necessary. From there she jumped onto the captain's shield. He shot her into the air like a bullet.

The captain watched as she spun into the air and grabbed hold of the sled flying above them. He grinned after her. He remembered to back in his day when strong women were few and far apart and quite frowned upon…but now? Women like the Black Widow…or perhaps it was just the Black Widow…definitely piqued his interest. _What a woman…_

Aboard the sled, Natasha quickly dispatched the warrior on the back half of the sled before leaping onto the back of the driver. She dug two blades into its shoulder blades and twisted and wrenched, figuring out just how to maneuver the sled. Turning was a bitch, but she eventually got the hang of it all. Her mind was dead set on getting to the top of Stark Tower. That was, until, she saw the man tailing her. Her brow knitted together as a new idea came to her. Now, instead of getting to the top of Stark Tower, she was going to get Loki not to just tail her, but to follow her. Where? She left that thought with only a smirk. She led the villain through the skies and right towards… "Hawkeye!"

The man standing atop the high building stared in utter amazement. "Nat! What are you doing!" Then he saw who was trailing her. A smirk came to his lips as he raised an arrow to his bow. Drawing back he sighted and grinned. "I got 'im."

_THWANG!_

Barton watched with pride as his arrow flew through the sky, cutting a hissing path. It was the perfect shot. Loki was going do—

WHAT!

Loki caught the explosive arrow! Never before had anyone ever evaded his shot! This wasn't…This wasn't possible!

There was a devilish smirk on Loki's face as the arrow prepared to explode in his hands. He could almost chuckle as the arrowhead blew up in his face, sending him crashing to the deck of the higher levels of the Stark Tower.

From where he had been standing, the Hulk had seen Loki's not so graceful fall onto the deck high above. He charged up the side of the tower, doing more damage than necessary, to be brutally honest. As he reached the top of the tower he grasped Loki and threw him through the already cracked windows. He followed the man in and gave a thunderous roar before beating at the floor beneath him with mighty hands.

Loki took to his feet swiftly and glared at the massive beast. "Enough!"

The Hulk stopped for just a moment to listen to his tirade.

"You are—All of you—Are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature! And I will not be bullied by—"

And that was enough of that!

The Hulk snatched the so-called god by his ankle and slung him about the room, smashing him into the floor multiple times. He had little tolerance for being berated by something so much…smaller…than him. With a grunt of satisfaction he looked down at a quite stunned Loki and huffed a bit. "Puny god."

Loki laid there unmoving and vocalizing a choked whine. He laid there and just thought for a few moments. Perhaps this war wasn't such a good idea. The Avengers seemed to be holding his army at bay. He had just had just been thrown around like a ragdoll by a supposedly mindless beast. The humans were more willing to fight for their freedom than he had expected. He had been certain they would take to their knees before him and worship him as the God King that he thought he was. Apparently he had been wrong…

If Loki knew just how hopeless his endeavor was soon to become he would never rise from the whole in the floor shaped like him. There was currently a nuke heading through the air and right towards them. If it struck any part of Manhattan all would be lost. In less than three minutes it would all be over. Nothing would surive.

Unless…

**A/N Again, so sorry for the delay! Once my computer is back from the doctor I'm sure I'll be busting out chapter after chapter ^_^**


	8. Assemble

**A/N My most beloved Loki (computer, not character XD) is back from the doctor! He's all better, but they told me he was quite sick :/ I was glad to hear he behaved himself, though, and was a perfect gentlemen about getting his medicine ^_^ He may be the God of Mischief, but my Loki does have manners.**

**Thanks for all the Story Alerts, guys! My email practically blew up with hits! You guys rock some serious awesomesauce!**

**Chapter Eight: Assemble**

Agent Romanoff rolled onto the roof of the Stark Tower after leaping from the hover sled. She looked at the portal, trying to think of a way to stop it. Hacking the system? Yeah, like she could do that! She was a spy, interrogator, and martial artist…not a computer geek who hacked. That was Stark's forte, not hers. She was frowning until she noticed Doctor Selvig was moving. She rushed over to his side. "Doctor."

He was looking over the edge of the tall building, obviously not troubled by their fantastic height. "Loki's scepter. The energy…" He turned normal looking eyes upon her. After being blown away by the blast caused by Stark's first attempt at shutting the Tesseract down he was free of Loki's influence. "The Tesseract can't fight. You can't protect yourself…"

She put a hand on his shoulder, trying her best not to let him feel overly guilty about his actions. "It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing."

A rather curious look traversed his features as he looked at the redhead. "Well…Actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut the power source."

Realization bitch slapped Natasha across the face. "Loki's scepter."

"It might be able to close the portal." He looked back down at the lower deck. "And I'm looking right at it."

Natasha moved to the edge of the building and looked down. There it was. Loki's scepter. She looked at the doctor and the two of them shared a very meaningful gaze. She turned her attention to the building's side, searching for the perfect footholds that would allow her to get close enough to the deck before dropping if that were to become necessary. Finding a good spot she approached the side of the building backwards and slid over the edge gracefully.

Selvig gave her a nod. "Careful."

She nodded back before beginning a swift decent consisting of careful hand and foot placements. When she was close enough to the deck she let herself drop and roll across the surface for a few feet. She looked around, making sure that she was alone. Loki was nowhere she could see and she had heard the loud smashing. Perhaps the dog had wondered off to lick his wounds before rejoining the fray. Still, she was careful to approach the scepter undetected. Just picking it up gave her a strange feeling of power. She had no idea how to use it other than as a spear, but she could just _feel_ the unbridled power coursing through the dangerous weapon. She looked up, getting back to the roof the same way she came down wouldn't be possible. She ran into the penthouse, not noticing the wounded god on the floor, and made her way to the stairwell that would take her back to the roof.

Everything was a mess. The Avengers, though not tiring, were being to be overrun. It seemed that nothing they were doing could stop the relentless onslaught of the Chitauri. The captain and Thor found their hands full. The Hulk was being buried under heavy fire. Barton was almost out of arrows and it had been some time since Little had brought him whatever she could gather. In a last ditch effort he used his last modified arrow to swing down and through the window of a building, landing harshly on his back, grimacing and groaning in the sudden shock of agony. Little could hear him over the com. Her current state was that of a lioness who was ripping and biting into everything around her. However, the Chitauri were crushing in on her. She was beginning to become overrun by their numbers. When she heard Barton in pain it was her breaking point. She mentally told these monsters to bugger off as she tore out of their grasps and into the sky. As a peregrine falcon she tore through the skies of New York City in record time. She burst through the shattered glass. As she landed beside him she quickly turned back to her human form.

"Clint!"

He looked up at her. That was the first time he could ever remember her calling him by his first name. He was also quite touched at the obvious expression of worry on her features.

"Are you alright?"

He held up a hand and she pulled him to his feet. A grimace fell upon his lips as he put a hand on the small of his back. "Been better. I'm fine. You get back out there."

She was about to say something but nothing happened. She looked back out the window. A group of sleds was heading in their direction. Looking back at him, she grabbed his arms just above the elbows. "Don't get yourself killed."

He brought his arms up to grasp hers by the elbows. On his face was that half-smile that only men seemed to be able to pull off. "I won't. Now, get your ass back out there. They need you."

After one last meaningful look she released him from her grip and went to the window. She leapt out and fell onto a passing sled below to duke it out with its riders.

Meanwhile, Fury had just informed Stark of the impending nuclear strike upon the civilian population. Not good. They had less than three, count them, _three _minutes to deal with a massive issue. Stark's brain went into overdrive for half a second as he tried to fight off a rather overpowering group of Chitauri. What was he going to do? Out of the corner of his eye he caught the smallest glimpse of the portal.

Bingo.

"Jarvis, put everything we've got into the thrusters!"

"Already done, Sir."

Stark blasted into the air and headed straight for the nuke. Over the com link they could all hear Natasha.

_"I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal!"_

Rogers voice sang out next. _"Do it!"_

Stark grimaced. Now, he couldn't have any of that with his new plan, now could he? "No! Wait!"

_"Stark, these things are still coming!" _

Stark had to remind himself that now was not the right time for a sexual remark. "I gotta nuke comin' in and its gunna blow in less than a minute!" Up ahead he could see the pale white streak coursing through the sky. There it was. "And I know just where to put it."

All those listening took just a moment to let this information sink in.

Rogers was the one to say what they were all thinking. _"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?"_

No words were said upon that.

Stark caught up with the missile. As he grasped the projectile he angled himself upward and shot through the air alongside the beam from the portal. Time was ticking down, but he would make it. He knew he would. Jarvis tried for Pepper on the phone. She never answered. There was a place in his heart that wanted to cry. This could be his last time to talk to her…and he wouldn't get the chance. Ignoring his grim thoughts he shot through the portal and into open space. He would later find out about the massive cheers that erupted at SHIELD headquarters. He let go of the nuke, watching it glide through space and collide with the mother ship of the Chitauri. Satisfied, he closed his eyes and let himself fall. Losing power wasn't a good thing as the oxygen was no longer pumping. It didn't take long before he had lost consciousness.

All around them the Chitauri began to drop like rocks. Civilians watched in amazement as their attackers just fell to the ground, dead. There was one person, however, who did not find the collective deaths of the Chitauri to their advantage. Little had been in her human form while struggling against a warrior on a sled. She meant to turn into something, _anything_, but the sudden crushing weight of the warrior that fell on top of her was too distracting. She couldn't think of anything to become. Her mind went perfectly blank of every kind of animal that would have been useful. Instead, she was far more worried about the ground that was fast approaching.

With a sickening crunch they struck the concrete. After the sled flipped a couple times she was finally thrown from its grasp. She tried to cry out. She tried to turn. Nothing was working! Her panic was making it impossible for anything to happen. Instead, she bounced down a city street for about forty yards. She was finally stopped when she collided with an overturned car. Her first thought was to cry out in agony and hope someone heard her but breathing hurt like a bitch. She lay there, staring up at the sky and found that it was oddly beautiful for such a destructive day. Her breathing was shallow and painful. A small line of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth to join the pool beginning to form beneath her. Soon all the pain she was feeling began to ebb away into numbness. Her eyes stared blankly up at the sky as her heartbeat began to slow dangerously.

Not five streets over Thor, Rogers, and a very pleased with himself Hulk were standing over a very shocked Stark.

"What the hell? What just happened?" The cocky billionaire looked at the faces around him. "Please tell me nobody kissed me!"

Rogers looked around. Bodies of Chitauri were scattered around them. "We won."

Stark laid there and gave a little lack-luster cheer. "Alright…Yay! Alright…Good job, guys. Let's not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." And a thought struck him. He pointed to them. "Hey, have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

Thor had to be the bearer of bad news as he looked about them. "We're not finished yet."

Stark nodded. "Then shawarma after?"

Rogers just laughed as they helped the red and gold warrior to his feet. He touched the com link in his ear. "We've got to take care of Loki." He looked at his three fellow Avengers in front of him. There were three more out there in the city. "Avengers assemble."

The four of them made their way to Stark Tower. At the foot of the building they met with Barton and Romanoff. Nods were exchanged as they quickly made their way to the top floor where they knew Loki would still be. They moved in silence. For once Stark wasn't being a perfect ass. This moment was far too serious for such things. As they got to the top floor they saw Loki struggling to his feet while using the counter to pull himself up as best he could. He looked positively worse for wear. They all gathered around him quietly and just waited.

Loki pushed himself up and that's when he could feel the eyes boring into his back. Carefully he turned about to see who was glaring at him. He was looking straight down the shaft of an arrow and into six pairs of eyes that were all glaring at him. He winced slightly. "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

They all just shook their heads at him.

Thor moved forward. "Come, brother, enough of this foolishness."

Loki looked around. His cocky grin from asking for the drink now gone. He knew there was no hope in this endeavor…but…He frowned. There was no way around this. The woman had his scepter and he was perfectly surrounded, not to mention he was a little afraid of having to deal with the Hulk again. He glared at them all, but agreed to come quietly. There was no point in being nasty about it now. He had lost.

Stark walked over to a screen and tapped into SHIELD.

Fury's face popped up on the other side.

Stark nodded. "We've got him."

"And what are the plans from here?"

While the Hulk held Loki fast so that he couldn't run, Thor walked up to the screen. He gave a short nod. "The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, as does Loki."

"I won't disagree with that." He looked past the men in the room and saw the Hulk. "When Banner returns he and Doctor Selvig should have no problem creating something that will get you both back to Asgard."

While they were discussing the means of return the gods would need to take Romanoff noticed something for the first time. She looked around the room with brows knitted together. How…odd…

Barton noticed her confusion. "What?"

"Where's Little?"

Everyone in the room heard her. Each person suddenly began looking about the room. They realized that she hadn't met up with them at the foot of the tower. Now she was nowhere to be seen.

Rogers spoke through the com. "Agent Little, do you copy?"

Silence.

"Fauna?"

More silence.

"Kaleigh?"

Stark frowned deeply. "Fifi? Where are yah, girl?" He was certain that would get some kind f response out of her.

Nothing.

It clicked.

Rogers looked to each person. "We've got to find her. Thor, you stay here with Loki and Hulk. Romanoff, head east. Barton, you take the west. I'll go north." He turned to Stark who stood behind him. "You head south."

The four of them quickly made their way down and through the streets. Stark was able to fly, but only just. His suit had taken a massive beating and without his helmet he couldn't go too fast. Each person tore through the streets given to them and searched up and down for the missing mutant. She had to be around here somewhere!

Stark was about three stories off the ground and searching each street. He hoped she was alright. He kinda liked the woman. What he wondered was why Fury hadn't tossed her in the Avengers Initiative to begin with. He actually thought her natural abilities should have put her amongst them from the start. He had seen her storming the streets. She was always something different each time and he had to respect that. Sure, now he had seen her as truly dangerous predators and beasts, but she would always and forever be that big, dark dog he first saw her. She would always be Fifi. He continued his search when he suddenly saw a group of people gathering around something. It was worth a shot. Landing a few yards away from them he made his way through the crowd. Once they saw who it was they parted like the red sea before him and let him through.

What he saw was enough to make him frown, if not cry. Little was lying on her back beside an overturned car. Her eyes were half closed and staring blankly up to the sky. He couldn't tell if she was even alive and by the looks of it…Stark knelt by her and picked her up as tenderly as his metallic arms could.

Little seemed to come alive for a few moments as she gasped aloud. The movement jolted and shocked her injuries back into the painful state they had first been in. She looked up at Stark with eyes clouded in agony.

He nodded. "I've got yah, Fifi. Just stay awake. You hear me? Stay awake or no more treats. I know how much you loved the first one." He truly hoped his jokes would help keep her going in some way.

The civilians watched as he carried her away as carefully as he could without hurting her any further. They were unsure of what to do now. There were some amongst the group who had seen what the woman could become and found it saddening to see her in such a state.

Stark moved as quickly as he could. He could hear her labored breathing and occasionally looked down to see her struggling to remain conscious. She kept wincing and tears were sliding from the corners of her eyes. He didn't know if keeping her awake was worth it for her, but he feared that if she slipped away into unconsciousness she might slip away completely. "Guys, I've got her."

_"Is she alright?" _That was Barton.

"She's alive." _But for how long…_

The other three met him back at Stark Tower. It took everything Barton had not to grab Little from Stark's arms and run to anywhere that could fix whatever was wrong with her. They quickly hailed Fury, telling him that Little was seriously injured and needed a doctor twenty minutes ago. The director let them know someone was on there way. In the mean time they got her back to the penthouse where the landing pad was to wait, because that's all they could do. Little was ever so gently placed upon the couch as they waited for the transport. Stark didn't even complain about the bloodstains.

And now, to wait.

**A/N Like? Love? Reviews please!**


	9. KJ Little

**A/N Writing serious chapters about superheroes while listening to Disney songs. Contradiction? Maybe…**

**This marks my first change to the movie. I don't want them all going their separate ways just yet.**

**Chapter Nine: KJ Little**

The transport arrived and a medical team poured out to attend to the fallen Avenger while a second group apprehended Loki, cuffing him and placing a gag about his face before being escorted onto the jet by Thor. The rest of the team simply stood back, letting the SHIELD agents do their jobs. Well, most of the team anyway. Barton seemed to remain underfoot as they carted the newly unconscious Little away. She had passed back out not long after being placed on the couch. It had all been just too much for her.

Stark smirked as he watched while Barton climbed into the transport after the med team. He turned to Romanoff, who was watching with a hint of concern on her face. "So, how long as Robin Hood been pining after the family pet?" He felt that now that she was on her way to get taken care of it was the perfect time to return to his joking ways.

The redhead shook her head slightly. "Two things: One, never let him hear you call him that, and two, I honestly don't know. I mean, I know she's been harboring some feelings for him for some time." Her face was rather blank as she shrugged. "He never seemed against being teamed up with her when necessary. I've caught him staring at her occasionally, but you'd probably never know he cared for her. He did seem rather concerned about her earlier when we first got here."

Rogers walked up to them. "They're taking her back to headquarters. She's in pretty bad shape. They didn't say much, but from what I gathered it's not good." He watched as the jet took off and made its headway back to the helicarrier. Doctor Selvig had gone on that transport so that he might become better acquainted with what was left of the lab on the ship before being joined by the other two scientists. "They're going to send another transport for the rest of us. It should be here shortly."

Stark had removed the Iron Man suit by then. He clapped his hands together. "Well, in the mean time I think I'll have a drink."

The redhead and the captain watched him limp over to his bar.

Rogers turned to her. "Does he ever go a day without a drink?"

She smirked slightly as she looked up to the tall man. "Stark? I don't think he knows what water tastes like."

"Not true, Romanoff! I know perfectly well what water tastes like and it's nowhere near as delicious!"

She rolled her eyes and flopped down into a chair, rubbing her face. It had been a long…long day. She looked about the mostly ruined room. There were massive holes in the floor where the Hulk had decided to do some redecorating with Loki. They made her smile. After seeing the actual control the man seemed to have over "the other guy" she felt a little more comfortable being in the same room as him. That reminded her…She looked across the way to the bloodstained couch to where Doctor Banner was passed out. His clothes had been ruined, but Stark had a shirt and pair of shorts he wasn't too upset over losing to aid the man. It seemed he needed to sleep off whatever effects the Hulk had on him. She wondered if he would remember today at all. She had a strange inkling that if he didn't he might assume he had done the damage to her fellow SHIELD agent. It would be easy to disprove him, naturally, but still. It must be hard having to deal with something like that…

Stark was enjoying his drink as he pulled up a screen. "Jarvis, can you pull up all working traffic and security cameras from the lower east side of Fifth."

"What is it you're looking for, Sir?"

Rogers and Romanoff looked up and at the man standing before the translucent screen.

"That's where I found Little. Let's see if we can see what happened to her."

The soldier and spy quickly made their way to his sides.

She set Stark with a curious gaze. "Why do you care?"

The swarthy man shook his head at her. "I'm surprised at you, Agent Romanoff. I'll have you know I actually give a damn about people." He was watching the screen as Jarvis played through the dozens of cameras at double-time. Not yet…not yet… "Stop!"

The images froze on the screen.

Stark pointed. "There."

Rogers stared at the screen. "I'll be damned." He could see Agent Little aboard a hover sled that was falling to the ground.

The billionaire tapped on the images that he assumed would contain her trajectory down the street before allowing them to play out. Hisses went around as they watched Little first collide with the ground in the now rolling sled before being tossed out like a child's plaything. There were collective gasps and groans for the woman as they watched her rag-doll down the street before colliding heavily with an overturned car. It hadn't been a pretty thing to watch. The street was littered with debris that she bounced off of. It was no wonder she was so heavily injured. Had she simply dropped from that height she may have only lost consciousness and broken something here or there, but by their estimates it had been a good fifteen- to twenty-story drop and at the speed the sleds were going there was more than enough energy there to throw her like that.

Romanoff shook her head. "There's no way a human could have survived that. How did she not break her neck?"

Rogers watched the clips. They kept playing over and over. He wanted to look away…but he couldn't. "She's not human though, right? She's a mutant."

"Yeah, but she was in her human form, which though her senses are heightened, I don't think that means she's as resilient as you."

Stark just shrugged. "Pure dumb luck if you ask me. Yeah, she was thrown around like a rag doll, but maybe it was just the right spot to where instead of breaking her neck she broke something else. All that matters is she's alive." He smirked. "And once she's better I fully intend on seeing if I can train her to fetch the newspaper."

The other two rolled their eyes. They both hoped he might soon realize that joking on a person whose life was hanging by a thread wasn't appropriate…but then again they both knew this was Stark and there was nothing they could do to stop him.

Soon the transport arrived to take them away. Natasha first tried to shake Banner from his sleep. When that didn't work she smacked him rather rudely on the face. He was still out. She frowned. "Steve, can you just pick him up or something?"

The captain nodded and walked over, heaving the unconscious scientist onto his shoulder. He gave her a smile in the mean time. "Not a problem, Ma'am."

Natasha just stared after him as the three of them (the conscious ones, naturally) walked out onto the landing pad and loaded into the back of the jet. Rogers dumped the doctor into a seat. They strapped the man in so that he wouldn't lull about and face plant, even though Stark said that would be too funny to pass up. Natasha silenced the man with a slight glare. She had had enough of his childishness for one day. She was exhausted and just wanted to get back to her only slightly uncomfortable bunk and sleep. It had been a long few days and she just wanted to rest. She only hoped that Fury wouldn't be too strict about anything when they got back. He might not be too pleased about the mess they made of Manhattan. It would be SHIELD's job to get the place cleaned up and repaired. Of course they would do it under the guise of government and 'volunteer' work forces coming together to repair all the damages. There would be normal civilians who would want to help and they would be appreciated, but much of it would be SHIELD wearing a neat little mask.

The trip didn't last as long as any of them thought when they were suddenly landing on the deck of the helicarrier. They poured out of the jet after Stark landed a nice, strong blow on Banner's back. That finally stirred the man from the depths behind his closed eyes. The doctor wasn't very pleased now that he had to deal with the headache that usually followed the Hulk while awake. The four of them would have gone to their quarters or usual posts if Fury hadn't demanded they meet him on the bridge to discuss some matters. They all heaved a sigh as they trudged their way to the bridge. Couldn't the man just let them rest? Five minutes? Was that too much to ask?

As they all plopped into their chairs Fury gave them a nod. Doctor Selvig was already seated and had been waiting for their arrival. "You guys did good. I'm happy to say that Loki is once again under our surveillance and, believe it or not, under heavier security than before." He nodded to the two doctors. "Selvig, Banner, I hope you two can get to work on bringing something about that will assist Thor in getting Loki back to Asgard. It has been decided that they will take the Tesseract and Earth will have no more of it from here on out."

Rogers cleared his throat. "Sir, I was wondering if there was any news on Agent Little?"

Fury looked at his hands where they were propping him up on the back of one of the chairs. "Agent Little…For lack of a better term, she's pretty messed up. I've gotten snippets of how she's doing, but it's still early. The most I can give you is she's in medical bay and they're working as hard as they can on whatever is wrong. I know she's going to be rushed into emergency surgery shortly, but other than tha—"  
Banner shot upright in his seat. "Wait, what happened?" He remembered the battle for the most part, or at least that there was a battle, but he had no recollection of what they were discussing. Agent Little was hurt?

The director looked to the doctor. "Agent Little was injured—severely injured—in the battle. It's not looking good and, to be honest, it's looking pretty bad."

There was a quick look of guilt that passed across the man's face.

Natasha mentally noted that she was right before explaining a bit better. "It wasn't your fault, if that's what you're wondering. She was on a Chitauri sled when they all clocked out. She was trapped and fell from pretty high up." She looked to her boss. "Stark brought up the street cameras. She was tossed like a skipping stone down the street."

Fury nodded. "That explains a lot, actually." He took a breath for a moment. It was no secret among the agents of SHIELD that Little was his personal favorite. He had actually been the one to convince her to leave the school she was at and join them. To this day he thought it as one of the best recruitments he had ever accomplished. She was willing to do what it took to get the job, a job she was very good at, done. He really did hope that she would pull through this. He looked back to those around the table. "Selvig, if you would show Banner and, if you want his assistance, Stark to the lab on Two?" He turned to the two mentioned. "The lab you were in is beyond repair at the moment from the explosion. There's a lab on Two that's close enough to the one you were using in equipment that there shouldn't be any problems."

Selvig stood and motioned for the two men to follow him. They stood with grimaces and the doctor gave a slight groan.

Fury thought a moment. "If you guys need to rest for a while, go ahead. Just know I want you working on a way to get them back to Asgard as soon as possible." They did, after all had happened, deserve a bit of a rest, right?

They both sighed in relief before continuing to follow Selvig. He could at least show them to where the lab was at before they retired to their quarters for a brief rest.

Natasha caught the director's eye. "Sir, if I may, where's Barton?"

The man didn't deny himself a very small smirk. "Confined to his quarters. He was here for maybe fifteen minutes and was constantly underfoot. We finally had to just get him out of the way of the medics." He gave his shoulders a little roll. "I didn't know he cared about Little."

She pursed her lips momentarily. "Believe me, we didn't either."

Fury just gave his head a little shake. "Alright. Well, why don't you two go and get some rest and relax a while. There'll be plenty of work for you when you decide to emerge."

The stood together and made their way through the halls side by side.

Rogers looked down at her. "So, are you going to go relax for a while?"

She frowned a moment. "After I talk to Barton."

The captain stared at the woman walking beside him for a moment. Though her face was set in an emotionless state, her eyes deceived her. He could tell she was worried for her worried friend. With a shake of his head he just voiced his understanding as they branched off at a fork in the hall.

Natasha quickly made her way through the halls and to her friend's personal quarters. Rogers was right. She was worried for him. This was new territory, though. She had never had to deal with Barton when he was worried about someone he…felt…for. Hs worry usually came and went like a breath of wind. He always worried a moment or two over missions and duties, but all she had to do was tell him that this is what they do and that was all he would need. This was something new to her. The only thing she could equate this to was the short moment he had worried over how many SHIELD agents he had killed while under Loki's influence. All she had to do at that point was tell him that there was nothing he could do about it and not to feel any overwhelming guilt over it all.

His door came up faster than she expected.

She paused as she held her hand hovering over the access panel.

Shaking her head, she pressed her thumb to the scanner.

The door before her slid open to show a man lying fully dressed and stretched out on his bunk, staring blankly at the ceiling about him. The bunks on the helicarrier weren't too horribly. They bore resemblance to those classically portrayed in war movies, but were wider with thicker pads. Still, they were little more than overly glorified cots. She leaned against the door jam and watched him for a moment, assessing the situation. He was staring at the ceiling, but she could tell he wasn't seeing it. The storm that raged behind his eyes was reflected in their blue-grey depths. His left arm was behind his head while his right was down by his side. His right leg was bent up and the toe of his boot was tapping quickly enough to portray his inner feelings. The hand down by his side would occasionally clench and unclench.

Clint Barton did _not _enjoy being scolded like a child and being told to sit in the corner.

Natasha cleared her throat. Surely he must have noticed the door open, if not, than he was further in thought than she expected.

His head didn't move, but his eyes flicked to the side. Noticing who was there he sat up. "Yeah?"

She walked in and plopped down in the seat in front of the miniscule little thing SHIELD swore up and down as a desk. "Alright. Spill. Since when do you care so obviously for Little?"

He raised a brow, but knew that there was no point in denying anything. He propped himself up by resting his elbows on his knees and looked at his hands. "I first worked with Kaleigh—"

"Wait, before you continue, why do you get to call her by her first name and everyone else hates it?"

He held up a finger. "One story at a time, Nat." He played with his thumb nail for a moment before continuing. "I first worked with Kaleigh about three and a half years ago after she had worked her way up in the ranks and proven herself to be a valuable partner to agents like us. It was a two-for-one deal with our first mission. We were sent to some small village in Polish countryside. A big arms dealer was supposedly doing some dirty business there. Anyway, she was supposed to go in and get information and once she had what we needed I was supposed to take out the big man on campus. That's when I learned of her abilities. Man, it psyched me out at first! On the way back I just sort of stared at her until she bitched me out. I thought for certain she was going to slap me, much in the way you have in the past, but she didn't. Instead, we spent the rest of the flight just…talking. It was strange."

Natasha raised a brow. "Alright, so she almost hit you and you guys talked it out. Big whoop."

"Yeah, but it was the after that made the difference." He looked back down at his hands. "As you know, the mission was a success and we were paired up more often if you weren't around to be my partner. I learned her history of going to that school for mutants in New York and their falling out when Fury talked her into joining SHIELD. I told her about running away as a kid and joining the carnival. You know, she laughed at me for that one. She said that every kid always thought about running away and joining the circus and she had finally met one who _did_. Gotta admit, it bruised me." He chuckled and shook his head. "But anyway, I think the first time I really thought there was more to her than a decent conversation was a little over a year ago. We were on a mission and I showed her how to shoot—"

"You let her touch your precious bow?"

He gave her a pointed look. "Come off it, Nat, you want to learn about archery about as much as I want to be a woman."

She couldn't deny that.

"Anyway, she has no ability to aim whatsoever. It was hilarious watching her try. She wasted seven or eight of my arrows trying to aim for a massive billboard. I swear, she could be flying high and dive on a mouse without thinking about it, but ask her to shoot anything and she's useless. Well, when she kept missing her face got all red and she swore worse than any sailor I've ever met."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, you thought she was just so darn adorable?"

He shrugged. No denying it.

"Alright, now that that's settled, why do you get to call her Kaleigh?"

Barton chuckled. "Because she got sick of me joking about her last name."

Natasha was perfectly confused.

He smirked. "Agent Little is, well, rather little. You guys are about the same height, but, now don't get me wrong, she's almost delicately skinny in comparison. Yeah, if you look at her there's a shit ton of lean muscle, but she's just tiny. I ragged on her for months about how fitting her last name was so she finally told me to step off and just call her Kaleigh."

"But no one else can?"

"Do you poke fun at her size?"

She shook her head.

He held up his hands. "There yah go."

She stood. "Well, if that's everything than I'm going to my room." She was about to leave when she stopped and turned. "Hey…Let me know if she's gonna be alright, ok?"

He nodded and watched her leave. Once she was gone he slipped a hand beneath his bunk and pulled out one of the tablets. He tapped around and searched through some files before he brought up Little's file. Now, Barton was no computer genius, but he found that by searching and searching with countless key words and link-clicking you could find whatever it was you needed. It was easier than he thought, however, to find what he was looking for. He had pulled up some accessible files from the school in New York. His eyes stared back at the eyes staring at him in the picture. The woman was petite with long curly black hair and a laughing smile on her face. Her eyes were a strange shade not usually seen in your average human. She was built gracefully with easy curves on her petite frame. Her first name wasn't listed, but her first and middles initials were.

Barton nodded his head. "Hello, Ms. KJ Little. Shall we become better acquainted?"

**A/N Like it? Love it? Well, wanna know what I like and love? Reviews! For those of you have alerted this story, there must be a reason why. Care to share? Click the blue button below ^_^**


	10. Dial Tone

**A/N Totally unrelated to this fanfiction, but does anyone else love Oliver and Company? I was watching it earlier and almost cried. The beginning of that movie is just so sad to me!**

**On a note totally related to this fanfiction (or at least to a character in it) I've been listening to classic rock for the last few days. It's really helpful! I find it's also easier to channel Mr. Tony Stark this way ^_^**

**Chapter Ten: Dial Tone**

Four days had passed since the battle in New York and most everyone had settled down. The helicarrier was under twenty-four hour repairs until they were finished. So much needed to be fixed that instead of staying airborne they landed somewhere in the Pacific. Divers would work on the engines as best they could from the outside while other mechanics and techies would do their work from the inside. During all of this the Avengers had settled back into their usual routines very quickly. After the first full day back aboard the ship Rogers found himself spending most of his time in the gym with Agent Romanoff. She had convinced him to spar with her just that morning. At first he had been hesitant, not wanting to hit a woman in anyway, but when she landed a hard right hook across his jaw it was _on_.Banner, Stark, and Selvig worked in the lab on Two over the idea of creating the necessary device that would use the power of the Tesseract to transport the two gods back to their home world. They even had assistance from Thor himself about how to travel the Nine Realms since they weren't that entirely hip on such things, or at least Banner and Stark weren't. The only Avenger that wasn't settled into their old routine was Barton. He spent every minute of his free time in the infirmary. That's where he was currently at.

Agent Barton was lounging in a chair set in the corner of an overly clean room watching a doctor take his fifth round of vitals of the woman in the bed. After her emergency surgeries (yes, plural), Agent Little had slipped into a coma. None of the doctors were surprised. There had even been a special meeting over her condition. Barton tried his hardest not to dwell on just how injured she was. Aside from lacerations caused by glass, it was as though her entire right side had been smashed in some way. Her right tibia and femur were broken and the hip had been dislocated. The right half of her ribs contained multiple cracks spaced over five of the protective bones. Her right radius and humerus both had jagged transverse fractures. Her right tricep had been sliced into by a large sliver of glass. Topping off that side was a broken clavicle. Her left side wasn't as bad, but it was still pretty nasty. Her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL for those who didn't know) was torn in half. Her left shoulder had become dislocated and her wrist was broken. Ribs on her left side were cracked, but not to the extent of the right side. It had been hard on the doctors in surgery. They knew they couldn't use too many rods and pins because eventually they would all have to be removed when everything had healed or else Agent Little would never be able to become an animal again. There had been a very heated discussion between the surgeons and Director Fury about that. Their side was that if she was alive, wasn't that what mattered? Who cared if she couldn't change ever again. Fury had taken a stance (backed by Barton, naturally) that if she could never turn again SHIELD was going to lose a very useful agent and then the doctors would have to deal with her wrath. He reminded them that even as a human Little could do some serious bodily damage when she put her mind to it. Fury had won the fight and the doctors made sure that everything they put into the woman's body could be removed at a later date once she was completely healed and no longer in need of what they had done. It was also as the meeting that the doctors relayed some very serious information. Little had taken several striking blows to the head. They confidently used the phrase "when she wakes up" while informing them on her condition. They said when she woke up they had no clue on what kind of damage this might cause. It was a toss up between her losing some or most of her memory, losing some kind of motor function, or perhaps even losing one of her five senses. So, all in all, there wasn't any good news aside from the fact that she was stable and had a higher chance of survival.

He sat in _his_ chair, watching and listening to Agent Little. She was hooked up to a plethora of machines keeping track of her heart rate, blood pressure, and helping her breathe. His least favorite thing about what the doctors had done was that they had cut off all her hair. He was quite fond of the bouncing black curls…It didn't matter, they had shorn her head so that they would have better access to her scalp for cleaning and stitches. A smirk passed his face. Little would _not _be happy when she woke up to find her hair gone. What woman would?

Hesitantly, he stood. He had made plans to talk to Director Fury that day about contacting whatever family Little had. They had a right to know she was in such a horrid state, right? After looking over his shoulder at the unconscious form in the hospital bed he walked out into the hall. Those he passed were actually pretty shocked to see him out of the room. In the last few days he had spent so much time in there it was almost unhealthy. He made his way to the bridge in silent thought, trying to figure out how best to word his request to the director. It wasn't often that the one-eyed man allowed true blue civilians into any SHIELD base, but that's what he would be asking for. When he finally arrived on the bridge he found his boss standing at the helm as usual keeping an eye on things. "Sir?"

The dark man turned and set Barton with a steady gaze. "Barton. Good to see you outside of the infirmary for once."

The archer bit his tongue to stop the snarky remark that was daring to leave him. Instead, he just cleared his throat. "Sir, I was wondering if you would agree to allowing any of Agent Little's family aboard to—"

"You know I don't allow civilians aboard."

He frowned. "Yes, Sir, but don't you think they have the right to see her?"

Fury raised his brow. "Or we could call them and let them know. What does it matter, she's in a coma."

A huff left the man. "True, but wouldn't you want to see a family member who was severely injured and in a coma?"

Fury shrugged. "Depends on the person."

Well, that certainly didn't help Barton in his plea. "Sir, if I told you it was only _one _family member, would that help my case?"

"Perhaps. I'm assuming you mean her mother or father?"

Barton shook his head. "No, sir. I've been doing some research and it turns out her father has been head nearly ten years and just two years ago her mother passed from cancer. She does, however, have a sister who, as far as I can tell, is her only living relative."

There was a sort of emotion that flickered across the director's face. Recognition. He gave a small nod. "Yes, I know who you're talking about. I met her while recruiting Little. It's needless to say she wasn't very happy learning that she wasn't wanted by SHIELD. I tried to let her down easy, but she was still pretty unhappy that her sister got the job." There was also a small smirk on the director's face. He turned to Barton. "You're aware that this sister is her—"

"Yes, Sir, I know. Now, back to my first question, would you allow me to get her and bring her here if she would like to visit her comatose sister?"

Fury turned and looked back out the large window in the front. It might be a good idea. However, he wondered if this sister would even care. He couldn't rightly recall the woman's name, but he did remember that the Little sisters hadn't spoken in the six years after they separated on very heated terms. Yet…perhaps this was the right time to maybe forge a new bond between them. They were sisters, after all. He turned back to Barton. "You've got three days to either convince Little's sister or come back without her."

He nodded. "Thank you, Sir." Barton left the bridge and went straight back to his quarters where he grabbed his tablet and a pen and paper. He searched back over the information until he found what he wanted. Agent Little's sister ran a florist shop in Salem Center, New York. He smirked at the name. _A Little Touch of Spring. _It was quite funny, actually. He jotted down the number to the shop before leaving to the main communications room. He needed to make a call and he certainly couldn't do that over a cell phone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

A young agent asked him if he had clearance to call out but was quickly silenced by a stern look from the senior agent. Really? Someone was questioning _his _clearance? Barton shook his head at the ignorance of some people…Picking up the phone he tapped in the numbers and waited…and waited…and waited…He was worried at first that there wouldn't be an answer. It was almost eight in the evening in New York, but the hours of her shop were until nine. Perhaps she closed early? What luck would that be! He was about to hang up when a very young and feminine voice came over the phone.

_"A Little Touch of Spring! How can I help you?"_

Thank you, Lord! He heaved a sigh of relief. "Is Ms. Little in? Please tell her it's important. It concerns her sister."

_"One moment, please."_

He heard the young woman call out to her boss.

The voice that poured through the phone was so shocking he actually gave a small jump. He had definitely heard that deeper, sultrier tone of voice before.

_"This is Joann, who may I ask is calling?"_

He took a breath. _Here goes nothing_. "Ms. Little, this is Agent Barton of SHIELD. I'm calling to inform you that in recent events your sister, Agent Kaleigh Little, was seriously injured and it currently in a coma."

_"So?"_

He stared at the phone in shock. She didn't seem to care! "Uh…I was calling to ask if you would like to come see her."

_"What would it matter? She's in a coma, right?"_

_ Damn you, Fury_…He decided to pull out whatever stops he could. "Alright then, how about this? Why don't you get over whatever petty shit is between you two and come see your sister? She's still pretty touch and go right now. Would you be able to deal with it if she happened to die and you were too much of a bitch to come and see her one last time?"

There was silence on the other end. Unending, torturous silence.

Maybe he went too far with that…

Maybe she was deciding on the best retort for his rudeness…

Yeah, he may have over exaggerated just how bad off she was, but maybe that would push her to agree? Agent Little wasn't about to die…but then again she also wasn't guaranteed to live so he wasn't _technically_ lying…right?

"Ms. Little?"

More silence. There was no dial tone…yet…so she hadn't hung up. He heard the faint tinkling of a bell as it sounded like someone walked into the shop. In the background was the overly sweet and feminine voice of the girl who first answered the phone. He continued to wait. "Hello?" Was she even there? Had she set the phone down to assist the customer without informing him?

He heard a shaky breath over the phone, followed by the familiarly low woman's voice.

_"How do I get there?"_

Success!

He smiled slightly. "I'll get you. Is tomorrow too soon?"

_"I'll just have to tell my assistant manager to come in. How long will I be there?"_

He let his head rock back as he looked at the ceiling. He was honestly thankful that she had agreed to come. It would've looked bad if she had stuck to her first response of pretty much telling him to bugger off. "You'll be staying as long as you like. You'll be given your own quarters for the duration of your stay and round-the-clock access to the infirmary room where your sister is."

There was a sigh on the other end of the phone and Barton could picture her pinching the bridge of her nose in thought.

_"Alright. Seeing as how you know my sister, than you must know where I live. I'll let the big man know you're coming so he won't try and slice you to pieces."_

Barton gave a nod even though he knew she couldn't see it. "Fair enough. I'll see you tomorrow at around eleven in the morning your time."

_"Until then, Agent Barton. Oh, one last thing, by the way."_

"Yes?"

_"My sister's the bitch, not me. The next time you speak to me like that _will_ be the last time you speak for a while."_

Dial tone.

Barton slowly put the phone back on the receiver and stared at it for a moment. He vaguely remembered a time when he had insulted Little in some way and she gave a very similar response. Shaking his head with a smirk he walked out of the comm. room and back to the bridge to inform Fury on his success at convincing the woman to see her sister. He was pleased with himself when he noted the small amount of shock on the director's face. It hadn't been any longer than half an hour and he already had the time and place to pick up Little's sister. Fury just nodded though, and told him that he expected Barton to remain professional while the woman was on the helicarrier. There was no need for grand tours and long personal conversations about their past. He was simply her escort. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Barton left the bridge and made his way back to the infirmary and right to his chair. He sat there for a moment and stared at Little's still form on the bed. Her right leg was in a hard cast and elevated. Her right arm was in a soft case and would be until the sliced muscle and skin had healed so that she could go to a hard cast. The doctors said that by the time it had healed she might be ready to go to a forearm cast. He stood and walked to stand beside the bed. Looking her over he had to admit that anyone with a heart, no matter how damaged it had been by the woman, would at least feel pity for her. Her face was scratched and bruised and a large cut was stitched on the back of her head. There were other smaller cuts on her head that had needed stitching as well. Her left arm had some pretty nasty bruising and her forearm was in a cast. She truly was a sorry sight.

Dragging his chair over, he sat beside the bed. "Alright, so I know you and your sister ended it on some pretty rough terms and all, but I invited her to come see you. It would be freakin' sweet if you woke up tomorrow or while she's here, but I honestly doubt that's going to happen. In the mean time, I do hope that by her coming here it might help a little. You aren't me and I'm not you, but if I had the chance to make things right with my brother, I'd take that shot." He reached onto the bed and wrapped his fingers around the tips of her left hand. "Not to mention, I'm sure the rest of the group will get a kick out of meeting Joann." A knowing smirk played on his face. "If you were awake I'd place a bet that Stark rags on her within the first ten minutes of her stay."

The rest of the evening continued much in the same fashion. Barton made a point to talk to the comatose mutant as often as possible if any sort of topic that he could have a one-sided conversation about came to mind. The doctors had said she may or may not be able to hear someone talking to her and if she did it might not matter because she might not remember. That didn't stop him, though. He took every opportunity to talk to her. Hell, he was even in the process of convincing the rest of the team to talk to her whenever they had the chance. Most of them told him to bugger off, though. It wasn't that they didn't care. It was that most of them had their own thing to deal with. Doctor Selvig was nice enough to agree to whenever he had the time to go and just talk to the girl.

When his eyelids began to weigh heavily upon him, Barton stood and stretched. He would need to get some sleep before leaving in the morning to fly to New York. He'd take a jet to get there quickly and gather Little's sister. Without taking the care to change or at least take off his uniform, the man fell onto his bunk face-first and drifted off to sleep after setting an alarm to wake him in the morning. It was certainly going to be an interesting day.

**A/N Hit the lovely blue button below and tell me what you think ^_^**


	11. Fallen Angel

**A/N Woo! On a roll :)**

**Chapter Eleven: Fallen Angel**

Stark was sitting in the lab with Banner and Selvig looking over the latest idea about how to go about creating this transport device. It was a solid idea that was for certain. He nodded and tapped around on the screen while discussing how to go about making the necessary bits and pieces and getting what they needed from SHIELD's stores. With what the operation could offer and what Stark Industries could get its hand on there was nothing they couldn't obtain in a matter of a couple days. The transport would be ready soon enough, but naturally there was the test phase and making sure that everything was safe. This wasn't Stark's particularly favorite issue to deal with. He'd much rather just make the damn thing and get it over with so he could rejoin Pepper in New York and get to working on repairing Stark Tower and getting the other three buildings underway. It wasn't that he was sick of SHIELD…no…wait…Yeah, he was perfectly sick of being around SHIELD. Sure, there were a couple agents he was fond of and tolerated, but other than that there was nothing keeping him there except the request from Fury to aid in the creation of the transport.

His head snapped up when the door slid open.

Barton had done exactly what Fury told him not to and was giving the guest of SHIELD a tour. It wasn't grand, so he technically wasn't going against Fury. Loop hole!

"This is the lab where Banner, Stark, and Selvig are currently working." He nodded to the three men who were looking in utter shock at the woman standing diagonally backwards to the left of the archer. Barton motioned from the woman to the three men in order of their names. "Dr. Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, and Dr. Erik Selvig, this is Ms. Ki—Joann Little. She's Agent Little's sister."

Stark was openly gawking at the woman.

Banner was staring at her with a raised brow.

Selvig gave a small smile and walked forward, holding out a hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss. I never got to meet your sister while she was conscious, but I've heard good things. I'm glad to see she has family who wanted to come see her."

Joann shook his head and looked about the room. She didn't like being on the helicarrier. She'd only been there for about half an hour and was already beginning to feel the effect of being so far away from the glorious green earth. "Thank you, Dr. Selvig. I'm glad to see that _someone_," she looked pointedly at the two men staring at her, "has manners enough."

Banner looked back down at his work, obviously embarrassed by his open shock. It was impolite to stare…

He just chuckled and bent back to his work.

Stark looked the woman over. "Sorry, Barton mentioned something about Little's sister. We just didn't expect…this…" He waved a hand from her toes to nose and back down.

Joann pursed her lips. She should have expected this kind of reaction. Turning to Barton, she asked if there was anything else worth seeing before going to see her sister.

He nodded. "I'll show you the mess." He waved for her to leave the room first so that he could set Banner and Stark with an icy glare. As they walked through the labyrinth of halls, he gave her a weak smile. "Sorry about that. I guess I could've warned them."

She shrugged. "I'm used to it…It's never been easy being Leigh's sister…" As they walked back a darkened window she glanced at her reflection and her lips turned into a frown. As a child she loved the resemblance, but ever since high school she loathed it. Why couldn't they have been fraternal? She sighed and shook out her long black curls from their ponytail while following Barton. "So, Leigh was in the big battle in Manhattan, right? That's where she got hurt?"

He nodded in response. "Yeah, she was stuck on a Chitauri hover sled and ended up crashing. If you want, I'm sure I could get Stark to pull up the footage of her crash. It's not pretty, though." He walked up to a door that automatically slid open and held out his arms. "This is the mess, not a half bad place. If you ever come and just chill there's always someone here to entertain or to entertain you."

Joann looked around the room with a blank gaze. It was decent. She supposed she was spoiled at the mansion with their fabulous kitchen and windows, but what else was she expect? She was on a ship—a very military ship—in the middle of the freaking ocean. She turned and looked at the man. "Will you show me to Leigh, now?"

Barton nodded. "Right, this way." He walked back out of the mess and through the halls.

The woman tried her best to remember how many lefts and rights she would have to take to get around, but she knew it was hopeless. She would definitely have to ask Barton to escort her around. A small smirk passed her lips. She might not hate that, though. He was a striking character. He wasn't as tall and muscular as the captain, who she had met before being introduced to the Lab Rats (as she had now decided they would be called), and he wasn't amazingly handsome. No, but there was a quality to him that made her give a little grin. Oh, she would most definitely enjoy being escorted around by the SHIELD agent. The grin on her face stayed as she walked behind the man and enjoyed the view.

And then it fell away and broke into pieces.

The two of them had walked into the room where her sister was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. She stood in the doorway and watched as the man walked up to the bed and gently thumbed her left-hand fingers.

_Of fucking course…_

She frowned and walked up, tossing down the over-sized purse she had slung over her shoulder. "She looks like shit."

Barton smirked. Stark had said something along the same lines before. "Dropping a couple dozen stories and bouncing down the street will do that to yah."

She plopped down in the chair beside the bed. _His _chair. "So, I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and guess that you're my beloved sister's beloved."

He shot her a look that was guarded at first before his eyes drifted back to the figure in the bed. "Not really…kinda...I'm not really sure what you'd call it." He walked over to the door and hollered for an attendant as politely as he could and asked for another chair to be brought to the room. When it had been brought he placed it on the other side of the bed from Joann and sat down. "I'm glad you came. Hopefully Kaleigh will be glad to hear it, too, whenever she wakes up."

Joann snorted.

"What?"

She stood and walked over to the window that looked into the hall. She watched as everyone bustled around, but mostly she looked at the transparent reflection of herself. She had long, curly black hair and an oval shaped face with a delicate button-like nose…just like her sister. Her forehead was what she and her sister once called their three-head as it was smaller than most, but not in a bad way, but it was just like her sister's. Her black brows arched neatly and prettily…_just like her sister's. _There was one difference between them, and it was her favorite thing. Where Leigh had those lavender-blue eyes she had eyes that were a vibrantly dark forest green. It was the only thing that wasn't perfectly identical to her sister. Hell, even their _voices _sounded exactly the same. She narrowed her eyes at the reflection. "Leigh won't give a damn if I was here or not. Did she ever tell you about the last time we saw each other?"

He shook his head. All he knew was that they had had an argument.

She smirked and held out her left arm. There was an identifying scar there. "She snapped my arm. We got into a rather nasty argument that came to blows which came to breaks. She broke my arm and in return I got her ankle." A chuckle passed her lips. "We'd been getting into fights for years, but that was the first time we'd done any serious injury to each other."

He leaned back in his chair. Again, he was going to break a rule set by Fury. "Tell me more."

She turned to look at him and began to pace the room slowly in long, thin circles. "When she said that she was leaving to join SHIELD I blatantly told her that she was abandoning her family. We're as close as kin at the mansion. One big, dysfunctional family, but we love each other. She said she had never been part of it all. She never felt like she belonged. I told her she was fucking stupid and that she'd never belong anywhere else. I suppose _now_ that I was wrong, what with her being part of your special little team and all, but still. Anyway, we shot back at each other for a good twenty minutes before she lunged at me as a tigress. That's when it all turned to hell. We fought hard, as though we were finally getting around to letting out all of our frustrations. She limped away and I was in a cast for two months. It was a fair trade, if you ask me."

While she was talking, Barton watched her pace the room. He noticed that although they looked exactly alike there was something in their movements that distinguished them. Agent Little moved with an animalistic grace, like a lioness prowling through the Sahara or a swan gracefully floating on the water. Joann moved with a watery grace with steady, measured strides and a firm step. Something about it reminded him of what it might be like if trees could walk…He shook the thought and looked her over, noticing the differences in their bodies as well. Where Agent Little was muscular and toned, there was a softness to Joann's figure. Both were the same size, but there were those subtle differences. Barton couldn't see the sinuous muscle moving on Joann's body the same way he could see it moving on Little's. "If I may ask, you're at the mansion because you're a mutant. What's your ability?"

She smiled a genuine, happy smile. She dug around in her pocket and pulled out a small plant bulb. "Leigh can become the animals of the world, right? And what is it you call her?" This was honestly a rhetorical question as she already knew the answer.

"Fauna."

She grinned and closed her hand around the seed. "They call me Flora."

Barton watched as her softly closed hand began to open. The bulb split and began to grow without soil or water. The roots wrapped around her hand as a stem began to dance upwards. Leaves and a bud began to form. Within short moments the bud blossomed into a lovely yellow and white daffodil.

"Wow."

She kissed the blossom before it began to shrink back down, almost devolving in a way, and became a simple bulb once more. She tucked it away in her pocket. "You should see what I can do in a forest, but this place is all metal and machine."

He watched as she went back to pacing. A smirk came to his face. He had seen Little pace in the same fashion. "Can I ask why you go by Joann instead of—"

She stopped him with a glare. "Because I hate my first name as much as Leigh hates hers. Our parents weren't very creative when we were born. We could have been Amber and Cassandra, but no, our mother decided it would be just too adorable to have her twin daughters have twin names. Thus, Kaleigh Joanna and Kileigh Joann were born." She sat down roughly in the chair, backing it scoot back just a bit. "We used to consider changing our names, but decided against it after our dad died. Instead, we just decided to go by nicknames. As kids she was often called Jo or Joey and I was the one who went by the first name, but that changed for some reason I don't recall. Now, I go by Joann and she goes by Leigh. Though, I am surprised to hear you refer to her as 'Kaleigh.' Does she let you call her that? Or are you abusing the coma?"

He chuckled. "No, I get to call her that because she got sick of me jokin' on your last name. I wouldn't call her Agent Little, but instead it'd be Little agent. I got her a set of miniature utensils with a small plate and cup. Any time I saw something that was small I'd put it in her quarters until she had had enough of my bullshit." He laughed and shook his head. "You have no idea how many of those things ended up colliding with my head. It was a few months after I started calling her Kaleigh or properly referring to her as Agent Little that she did some snooping to get revenge."

Joann was actually enjoying the story. She was leaning her head on her right fist. "Revenge?"

"She found out my middle name."

"What is it?"

Barton set her with a steady gaze. "I'm not willing to discuss that."

She laughed aloud.

He listened to the laugh and noticed that, much like her voice, her laugh sounded just like Little's. So far the only difference he could find between the sisters were their eyes and some points of their personalities. How much more identical could they get?

The two of them stayed in the room for a few hours just talking back and forth. Barton let Joann know about the missions Little had been involved in that weren't classified, which meant ones where they didn't take someone out or ones that were still processing. He got along with her as easily as he got along with her sister. They exchanged a few good stories while they sat across the bed from one another. Joann told about their childhood while Barton talked about working with Little. It was nice. Barton even told her about Stark referring to Little as Fifi, well, Fido at first.

She gasped. "He thought she was a boy at first!"

Barton nodded. "Yeah, Natasha said Stark even gave her a little bone-shaped treat the next time they saw each other."

Joann was practically rolling in her seat. "No way! He did _not_ give her a doggie biscuit!"

Barton smirked. "That's what I was told. She apparently threw it at the back of his head shortly after receiving the gift."

The woman snickered. "Oh, that's just rich! I'll have to thank Stark the next time I see him. I always loved pissing her off like that. God, she hates when people treat her like a house-pet."

He was about to continue with another story when a doctor walked in. It was the same man who had been in charge of Little's care for the past few days. He nodded to Barton, but took a step back when he saw the woman sitting in the chair beside the bed.

The archer gave a nod. "Dr. Markson, this is Joann Little, Agent Little's twin sister. She's here as a guest to visit Little."

The doctor nodded to the woman. "Pardon my shock, Miss, but you do bear a striking resemblance to Little. It's quite obvious you're twins."

Joann's face scrunched up for two reasons. One, she hated that it was so obvious. Seriously, being an identical twin was a pain in her ass. Two, what was with the last names? So far she'd only heard the agent refer to two people by their first name. "Do you people always refer to everyone else by their lasts name around here?"

The two men looked at one another and nodded simultaneously.

She frowned. "How odd…" Joann had to remind herself for the umpteenth time since she arrived that this was a militaristic operation, so using last names was normal. It just seemed so out of touch to her. Back home they used first names, nicknames, monikers, anything that came to mind that would get the person's attention. Using last names seemed so…cold…

Barton was about to say something when a voice called to him through his com link. He frowned slightly, not really wanting to leave Joann so soon into her visit should she need help with something. "I'm needed on the bridge. If you need anything, Joann, press the _blue _button on the wall, there." He made certain to stress which button he was talking about. "That's just for service, pressing the red one will alert the attendants that she's awake. How about we don't give that false alarm?"

She nodded and followed him with her eyes as he made his way to the door. "Alright. You coming back?"

"That depends on what they need me for."

Joann watched as he walked out the door. It really was too bad that he apparently had the hots for her sister. He was a nice guy with a _very _nice ass. Again, what a shame. She turned her attention back to the unconscious figure in the bed. "You really ruined everything for me since we were fourteen, you know that, right?" There was a deadly venom dripping in her voice. She leaned back, putting her feet up on the bad next to her sister's broken arm. She was not usually a hateful person. She hardly ever enjoyed seeing someone hurt or in pain. This, however, was different. It almost felt just a little too good to see precious Kaleigh all bandaged up. She sneered at the thought that if their parents were alive and here to see this they would be weeping and praying for miracles. They always were religious goons…She gave a sniff. It was finally nice to see the immaculate, perfect Kaleigh fall just a little.

**A/N Alright, to point out the blatantly obvious, "Little" is Agent Little and "Joann" is her sister. Again, pointing out the obvious here. **

**Sooo! Did you like it? I know having twins sisters with 'twin' powers is kinda cliché, but I think it works ^_^**

**Anyone else catching on that Joann doesn't like Little? Anyone? Did I not make that clear?**

**Anyway! Like it? Love it? Review it!**


	12. Getting to Know You

**A/N I've been staring at the blinky line for about an hour now, trying to think of words. **

**Chapter Twelve: Getting to Know You**

Barton was walking back to the infirmary with purposeful strides. Luckily, he hadn't been charged with a new mission (a slight fear he had been harboring as of late) and was only needed to give some intel on a situation. The moment they said he was dismissed he made a bee-line straight for the infirmary. Halls and faces passed by him, but he saw none of them. All he wanted to do was get back to the hospital room where Little and her sister were. He honestly wanted to see if he could pry more information about their past. All he knew was what the comatose woman had told him, and hell, she had never mentioned the fact that she had a sister, let alone a twin. He knew that she enrolled in the school for the gifted youngsters a few weeks shy of her seventeenth birthday. Once she finished her schooling she helped to tutor other kids who had shape-shifting abilities however she could. She was supposed to join the main response team and become a big name at the school, but that never happened. When they found out she was spying around and exposing her gifts for payment they put her on a kind of probation. It wasn't long after that that Fury found out about her and went to recruit her. At first she denied him, adamant to stay with the school until she could be part of their team. It was two years before she was finally sick of not seeing results at the school as far as her promotion. She told them all to stuff it where the sun doesn't shine and left. What Barton wanted now was to know more about it all and even get some glimpses into her childhood if Joann would be willing to indulge him.

He stopped when he reached the door to the room. It had been left open and he could hear talking from within. Stopping, he stood just to the side and listened. Sure, it was impolite to eavesdrop, but the first lesson an agent learned at SHIELD was pretty much Eavesdropping 101.

"I hate to say this…well…maybe I don't hate it, but I'm not all that unhappy to see you like this. For once the perfect one isn't so perfect." She grumbled slightly. "But still, even unconscious and looking like shit you've still got the gorgeous guys after you."

Barton allowed himself a very pleased smirk at that statement.

She continued. "These past six years have actually been pretty amazing without you. I started that florist shop that you always said sounded like a dumb idea. Yeah, someone who can manipulate plants shouldn't try and make a buck doing it? Well, at least the school approves of how I chose to use my gifts. They say that, unlike you, I'm using my gifts discreetly and not openly letting humans see what I can do." She snorted. "Then again, you always did love showing off, right?"

He finally decided to walk in. All he was getting from eavesdropping was learning that Joann really didn't like her sister all that much and seemed to have jealous tendencies towards the woman. "Hey."

Joann jumped in her seat and stared at him. She put a hand to her chest and chuckled a little. "Holy hell, man! You scared the shit out of me! Warn a person, would yah?"

With a smirk on his face he dropped down into the empty chair. "But where's the fun in that, huh?"

She only rolled her eyes at him.

Silence followed.

Joann looked down at her hands. There was chipping yellow nail polish. Yellow was her favorite color. It had been her entire life. She thought about her youth. Around age nine she began to become very interested in plant-life and had a marvelously green thumb. Their parents never thought anything of it, though. They just smiled and told her how marvelous the houseplants and garden were turning out. A small smile flickered across her features as she thought about the horribly ridiculous leghorn hat her father bought her. It was ringed with yellow and black. She only ever wore it in the garden, which had earned her the sweet nickname of Bumble. Her smile turned downward when she remembered coming home from playing at a friend's house to find her sister sitting on the porch with their family dog. His name was Harley and oh, how he absolutely _loved _Kaleigh. He would do anything she told him to do without a second thought. Joann remembered her anguish when she saw half of her beloved, yet ridiculous hat hanging out of the dog's mouth. She didn't realize just how openly she was sneering and glaring at her sister until Barton cleared his throat.

He had an eyebrow cocked. Now would be a great time to ask. "Why exactly do you hate her so much? There has to be more than just her leaving the school."

Joann pursed her lips slightly and stared at him with harsh eyes before her chest fell and her shoulders slumped. "Well, she was born first, talked first, and walked for, but that isn't the important stuff. It all _really_ started when we were about ten years old and her stupid dog ruined my favorite hat on _her _command, then it just got worse as we hit our early teens. Leigh was always just two steps ahead of me in everything, for one. Our parents figured out her gifts before they realized that I might be special, too. I mean, her gifts were obvious. You don't just sit there and have a conversation with a dog and people not think that you're either crazy or actually understanding the creature. Anyway, we both found out we were special around the same time, but like I said, the parents noticed her first. She's always been just a little bit better at everything. We were both great students, but her grades were always just a little better than mine. Her reading level was always a year or two higher, her math skills more advanced, her comprehension quicker. Middle school wasn't so bad since we were both kinda awkward." She chuckled. "If you think Leigh is a babe now, you should have seen us back then. We were way too skinny and our hair was frizzy and just horrid looking."

Barton watched as she dug around in her bag and pulled out a small, but thick book.

She handed it across the bed to him. "I brought that with to talk to her about the pictures. The first one in there is us at age five."

He opened the book and stared down at the girls. They were wearing sunglasses against the brilliant sun so he couldn't tell who was who. It was shocking how alike they looked. He had seen identical twins before and they always surprised him. Turning the page he saw the two girls blowing out candles on individual cakes for their twelfth birthday. He tried to bite back a laugh. Joann was right! They were both incredibly scrawny looking and their hair looked like they'd just jumped out of a plane or at very best the craziest rollercoaster he'd ever seen.

"Even though she was always better, we were still the very best of friends." She sighed. "Then we started high school. The summer between eighth and ninth grade had been _very _kind to Leigh. She had started…developing…before I did. She was that one Freshman kid that all kids in all grades seem to like. She shot up in popularity and was even nominated to be the Freshman Princess for Homecoming Week. I, on the other hand, was in the background and constantly getting confused as Leigh. I _hated_ it. In the spring we both went out for the soccer team. We both got on, but she was a starting forward while I almost never played until the end of the game. Again, she was the perfect one. I didn't think it was fair. Her powers, that animalistic instinct and whatnot, are what helped her out. I think it's the fact that once we hit puberty she was this lean, mean, yet graceful machine and I was more of the soft and gentle type. She was fast and calculating while I was patient and calm. High school was hell for me. For three years I was always Jo's Sister. I had my own friends and I honestly think they were the only ones who actually knew my name aside from a few teammates on the soccer team. Did I mention she was made captain our Junior season? No? Well, she was. Our parents never favored her more than me, but the public did. We could be walking down the halls together and she was the one people said 'hi' to. She was the smart twin. She was the 'prettier' twin, even though we're identical. I mean, at home we were best friends, but at school I hardly ever got a chance to talk to her because she was always surrounded by her 'posse'…"

Barton furrowed his brow. He had to admit it did sound like shit and was probably a good enough reason to be a little nasty towards Little, but still… "Well, what happened when you guys went to the school?"

A smile graced her face. "We were finally equals. For the first year or two while we finished up schooling I was actually popular. You can guess my surprise, but it was nice. Leigh liked the school, but she didn't flourish as well. I think she didn't like the idea that she wasn't really special in comparison to everyone else. Hell, there was actually a guy there who could talk to animals. Sure, he couldn't become them, but I think she felt it took away from attention she might get. She really did have a bad problem with showing off. Being so popular in high school kinda ruined her vanity."

Barton's brow arched. Little? Vain? She was a smartass, yes, but he had never known her to be openly vain and attention-seeking.

"That was when she started to do her whole spy thing on the sly. No one knew until one day she was caught sneaking back onto the grounds at around four in the morning. They like keeping a curfew there and she hadn't just broken curfew, she _shattered_ it. That's when it all went downhill. We stopped being so close and she became moody and started to brood over everything. When Fury started showing up trying to recruit her things went to hell. Anytime something happened that she didn't like she would bring up the fast that she could leave anytime she wanted and that there was nothing holding her there. That was when we got into our big fight. She said that she had had enough and that she was leaving the next day. You know the rest from there." She looked at her sister. It had been six years…Six, long years. "So…What's she like around here? A top dog with plenty of followers like high school?"

"Hell no."

She shot him a curious look. "What?"

He smirked and put his hands behind his head as he relaxed in the chair. "She's always in the background. Everyone knows _who _she is, as in her name and whatnot, but other than that hardly anyone knows anything about her. I'm sure now more people know what she can do and all, but when she joined us she kept to herself. It wasn't long, though, before she became a valuable asset to SHIELD." He looked at the woman on the bed and gave a small, sincere smile. "She belongs here."

Joann understood what he meant. It wasn't until they enrolled in the school that she herself finally found a place where she belonged. She let herself smile for her sister. It was nice to hear that she had finally found a place where she belonged. Looking back to the agent, she asked, "You're telling me that she doesn't go flashing about how special she is anymore?"

He shook his head. "Nope. From what I can tell she actually avoids telling people." Something wasn't adding up now. If before SHIELD she was social butterfly who flaunted her gifts. Now she was reserved and liable to snap at the first person who said something wrong. What changed her? He wouldn't say he was complaining. He had never been into the social crowd kind of girls. Whatever it was that changed Little into more of an introvert made her more his type.

"So tell me, Agent Barton, first, do you have a first name?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, it's 'Agent'."

Her forest green eyes rolled as she shook her head. "Ah ha, ah ha, very funny. No, seriously, what's your name?"

He chuckled at her sarcastic laughter. "It's Clint, but you'll have to call me Barton or Agent Barton while you're here. Protocol, you know."

She nodded. "Is anyone allowed to call anyone by their first names?"

"Well, yeah, but it only ever really happens in the mess, or maybe the gym if a couple agents are training together. For most of us it's just second nature to use last names."

Her brow rose a little. "And what about the ones where it isn't second nature?"

He smirked. "Those would be the new recruits and interns."

They shared a pleasant enough laugh.

When the silence returned they retreated back into their own thoughts.

Joann was staring at her sister. She wondered what it was about her that was attracting Agent Barton to her. Looks, perhaps, because she had to admit, they were a rather attractive pair of women with their curly hair and curved figures. Joann never thought her sister's personality was all that amazing, but apparently she had changed s that could be it. These ponderings plagued her mind for a long twenty minutes as she tried to deduce just what it was about Leigh that got to him. Hmm…

Fuck it.

"Alright, so tell me He-Who-Isn't-But-Is-My-Sister's-Man, what makes her special in comparison to the rest of the female agents on this big ol' boat?"

Barton was quite shocked that she asked. Natasha had asked, but she was his best friend, this woman was a perfect stranger…but she was also Little's sister. He frowned in thought for a minute. How would he word it? He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again. Now, repeat. After a few minutes he finally had something. "At first, I'll admit it was because I thought she was pretty hot, but hey, I'm a guy. Then there was this time I tried to teach her how to shoot my bow and, man, she has no aiming skills whatsoever. Anyway, she got frustrated and I thought it was adorable. She's nice and has her quirky moments, too. When it's just us working together things go amazingly well." He gave a small smile. "During the fight I landed wrong and she came to make sure I was alright. It was sweet. I know I was worried about her, especially when she didn't respond and Stark found her like this." He nodded to Little. "Honestly, it's like I just sorta realized that I liked her, you know?"

Joann just shook her head. "Yeah, but in the end everyone always liked Leigh." She sighed and a thought passed her mind.

Barton watched as she reached into the top bit of her blouse and pulled on the two long cords he saw plunging into her cleavage. He watched as she pulled out two small medallion like necklaces and took one off. "What's that?"

Joann stood and handed the necklace over. "Our parents got us matching necklaces for our thirteenth birthday."

He turned the coin over in his hand. It was larger than a quarter, yet smaller than a half-dollar. On one side there was an imprinted black paw print with little ticks for where the claws would have touched. On the other side there were three letters in a perfectly beautiful script. KJL. Around the edge there was intricate scrolling to frame each side. He ran a thumb over the letters. "Kaleigh Joanna Little."

Joann looked down at her necklace. On one side there was a delicate looking leaf and on the other there were her initials. "Or Kileigh Joann Little." She dropped the coin back down her blouse. "The day she left she took the necklace and hurled it as hard as she could into the forest on the east side of the mansion's walls. It took me a couple hours to find, but I just didn't feel like I could rest." She frowned. "I hate her, I really, really do, but at the same time she's still my sister."

Barton gave an understanding nod.

She stood. "I'm tired. Would you please show me to my room, again? I don't think I could find it on my own."

He stood and hung Little's necklace off the rack holding up the IV bag. "Yeah, of course."

As they walked out of the room, Joann let her head fall as she watched his feet. She took a breath and realized what she had to do. When they got to her room after many turns that she would never even try to remember she gave him a steady look. "I'll spend another day here with her, but then I'd like to go home. I have a life of my own to get back to. Not everything can revolve around Leigh."

Barton was taken aback by her sudden request. He had thought she'd want to stay for as long as possible, but apparently he had been wrong. Looking at her he could tell she didn't want to discuss her decision, so he just nodded and turned on his heel to go back to the infirmary for the rest of the evening.

Joann pressed the button that closed the door and heaved a sigh. She turned and looked around the small room. There was a very uncomfortable looking bunk, the world's tiniest desk, and a small chair. A door led into a bathroom directly to her right. She frowned. "Can't expect to have the same luxuries as Leigh, now can you?" What did it matter if her sister was in the infirmary and in a probably comfortable hospital bed? She would definitely miss her bed for the night or two she would be staying aboard the helicarrier.

After changing from her clothes into a pair of comfortably baggy cotton pants and a tank top, Joann plopped down on the bunk. It _was _uncomfortable. How did the agents manage? Or were their bunks nicer since they were permanent? It didn't matter. She reached into her top and pulled out the medallion. She never took it off unless she was showering. Turning it over in her hand she thumbed the engraved initials. Her brows knitted together. She would never forgive or forget what had happened between her and her sister. She would get over it in time, but apparently six years wasn't enough yet. In her mind they would probably be old and on their death beds before either would admit to being in the wrong about any of it. She snorted. She wasn't wrong! Leigh was the one who was wrong!

The frown deepened. Yeah…it was going to take years before either would ever be in the other's good graces again.

**A/N The title makes me sing the song from The King and I XD**

**Like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell me why and review! (please!)**


	13. Spider Bite

**A/N To all those who have seriously BLOWN UP my mail with story alerts, favoriting, and reviews I say a massive, gigantic THANK YOU! You guys make doing this something fun. I'd write this story even if no one reviewed, but to hear you all say such good things about it make me smile. There is nothing more important to me than knowing my work is appreciated by awesome viewers such as yourselves! Claps for everyone! –applause-**

**Sorry for taking a few days. I don't know how or why, but this strange creature called Social Life just tackled me and dragged me out into the world. I'm not entirely sure how I survived!**

**SPECIAL NOTE: On Wednesday morning I will begin my drive from Virginia back home to Kansas. That should explain why you see nothing from me until Thursday or Friday after either this update or an update following, but before Wednesday.**

**Chapter Thirteen: Spider Bite**

Time danced passed the Avengers like a smooth an intricate ballet. Two days after Joann had arrived she left again, asking only for an update when her sister woke up and then to never be bothered by SHIELD again. Before she left, though, she had shared a vital piece of information with Barton that even SHIELD didn't know the full extent of: Little's allergies. They supposed it had never come up or she had maintained control over them. When recruited she had tested positive for pollen allergies, but apparently there was more to it than just pollen. Little was allergic to _flowers_. If you handed her a daisy her hand would swell up like a balloon and God forbid if she stopped to smell the roses…It turned out, though, that Joann was allergic to most household pets and wild game. She had explained that it was as though they were so strong with one side that it weakened them towards the other. This made Barton frown. He couldn't even be cheesy and buy Little some pretty flowers now…Bummer…

It had been a month since Joann left. Agent Little still hadn't woken up. She had missed _so much_ that it didn't seem fair. Banner, Stark, and Selvig had finished their transport. Now, Thor and Loki were back on Asgard. Along with that there seemed to be _something _going on between Rogers and Romanoff. It couldn't be called romance or anything because the redhead was squashing rumors under her boots each time the idea began to spread, but there were signs. The two of them sparred daily, often laughing and joking while doing so. They shared meals and spent much of their time around each other. Romanoff claimed it was because she was determined to integrate Rogers into this new world of technology and behaviors. Everyone agreed with her, but not a single person believed her. In the mean time, Stark was running amok through SHIELD nearly every day getting in trouble for something he really shouldn't be doing. Banner never left the lab except to eat or sleep, and even then he might do both _in_ the lab. Barton made sure to tell all of this to Little just in case she could hear him and would remember. He wanted to make sure she was caught up on all the latest developments. Also, he had returned to lobbying for the others to see her and talk to her. Selvig had kept to his word and stopped by once a week to talk to the girl. It was almost always about something scientific that he would just prattle on and on about. Even so, Barton was still trying to get the others to agree.

"C'mon, Stark, you know you'd like to rag on her! You can even leave her a doggie gift basket for when she wakes up!"

Stark was eyeing the man while tapping his lips in consideration. "Yeah, but it's not as much fun if she doesn't throw it at me when I give it to her!"

"She'll throw it at you when she wakes up!"

The billionaire thought for a moment. "I think I could do better than a gift basket…" He snapped his fingers. "I've got it!" Nothing else was said but he quickly left the room, only calling back that he'd visit the comatose agent whenever he had the chance.

Barton raised a brow and followed the man with his eyes for a few moments before turning back to the other man in the room. "What about you, Banner? Would you visit Little sometime?"

The scientist continued to stare at the screen before him while pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, whenever I haven't shackled myself to my desk I'll come on by. I need someone to bounce theories off of who won't look at me like I'm mental."

A chuckle bubbled forth from the archer's lips. "Alright, sounds great. I'll leave yah to your work now."

Banner just waved absently as the man walked away.

Barton was on his way back to the infirmary when he passed Stark in the hall. He wasn't surprised to see the man on his cell phone. Naturally, Stark would find a way to get service in the middle of the ocean. What raised his brow was that the man seemed to be discussing the strangest of building plans.

"So it'll be on an acre and a half. Can you get some of those big plastic tubes? Those will be perfect! Right, oh, oh! And those climbing thingies! Oh c'mon, Pepper, you know what I mean! Right, and we'll have to…"

His voice trailed away as the two men got further apart. Barton just shook his head as he made his way up a flight of stairs and into the infirmary. Once back in the room he plopped down in his chair and watched Little breathe. She had been healing nicely, which made him smile. She no longer needed assistance to breathe, so that was one less monitor and machine she had to be hooked up to. The major cuts were all closed and the deep wound on her right arm had healed to where they could now put on a hard cast. The large gash on her head had healed nicely and her dark hair was even beginning to grow back. He did notice that the hair wasn't growing back where the scar was. Would she mind that? He tried not to dwell on that, though. He had long since decided that however she reacted to the coma and her appearance would be dealt with and thought about when she woke up. Reaching over he ran a hand lightly over the short growth on her head. Mentally he noted it was an inch long. _Her hair grows pretty fast; it'll probably be as long as it used to be before too long. _A small grin came to his face. This was the first time he'd ever touched her hair and was pleased to find it was soft to the touch. He chuckled as he noticed that the tips were beginning to curl ever so slightly. Sitting back, he crossed his arms over his chest and began his daily one-sided discussion.

"So, Banner has agreed to come by sometime whenever he's not too busy in the lab. I swear, that man does nothing but look at equations and theories and whatever else scientists busy themselves with. Anyway, I don't think I've mentioned yet, but your hair is growing back nicely." He smirked. "Mine's still longer and that's just sad. I wa—"

There was a knock at the door before it slid open.

Barton turned quickly in his seat to look at who was standing there.

Rogers gave him a little nod. "You…uh…kept asking if we'd come talk to her. I thought I'd give it a shot."

The archer stood and motioned for Rogers to sit in the seat opposite his. No one sat in Barton's seat. _No_ _one_.

As Rogers sat down, Barton stood and made to leave the room. He knew people were far more inclined to really talk when they weren't being watched like a hawk. Before he left the room he looked back over his shoulder, though the captain wasn't looking at him he gave a small, stern stare and mentally warned the man not to upset Little.

Rogers sat there for nearly ten minutes without talking as he watched the woman. She looked like she was sleeping. He wondered if he looked the same way after being thawed and before he woke up. A small frown passed his face as he thought about everything he had missed while he had been in the ice. Little was missing things, too, though not on such a grand scale as his. He let out a breath. "You know, when you wake up, things will have changed. You're going to have missed some things. Already you've missed Thor and Loki returning to Asgard." He leaned back in the seat; becoming more comfortable talking to someone he didn't even think could hear him. "I've heard tell that Stark is renovating the Tower and turning it into a headquarters for the Avengers." He laughed a bit at the thought. "Can you imagine the seven of us all living in the same place? I mean, yeah, we already do here, but living here is definitely going to be different that living there. I don't think I'll be able to stand being around Stark for too long. At least we won't be trapped on a ship. It's not bad here, but I'd prefer to put my boots on solid ground."

He stopped talking and looked at her. Honestly, he felt like she would wake up in a minute or two and start talking back. But she didn't…Instead he just sat there watching her breathe and feeling ridiculous. Why was Barton so persistent on getting them to sit there and talk to a comatose patient? He just wasn't seeing the point. This was borderline insane seeing as how it was practically sitting there and just talking to yourself! He frowned at himself. He shouldn't be thinking like that. He needed to be more supportive of his teammates. Taking a breath he stood up. Maybe he'd try again some other time when it didn't seem so…strange…

Walking through the halls he noticed Romanoff walking down the hall towards him. He gave a small smile and wave. "Hey."

Her brows came together slightly. "You're coming back from the infirmary. Give into Barton's request?" Just the day before hadn't they been talking about it during their usual sparring session and both had agreed it seemed a little odd?

He shrugged. "I thought I'd give it a shot. We were right. It's strange talking to someone who probably has no idea you're even there." They joined their paths and made their way to the gym for their usual workout. "But now he won't bother me about it. I will say she's looking better. The cuts are healed and even the worst of the bruises are pretty much gone."

She dipped her head in a simple nod. "Good point. I'm glad to hear she's getting better. Did Barton say anything?" Romanoff was concerned for her friend. Aside from Rogers—who she had to admit she was finding a friend in—Barton was her only actual friend on the ship. In the past month she had seen so little of the man that it worried her. He was spending entirely too much down in the infirmary. Hell, she couldn't remember seeing him with his bow in the last month! He hardly went a couple days without heading to the range and now she was certain his weapon of choice was gathering dust on a shelf somewhere.

The two of them were just outside the doors of the gym when Romanoff stopped. She shook her head. "You go on. I need to talk to Clint."

Rogers looked down at her with a look of concern and worry. "Everything alright?"

Romanoff gave a little sigh. She wasn't much of a talker, but there was something about the man that seemed trustworthy. "He's probably the only real friend I've ever had and I'm worried about how seriously he's taking this. He needs to back off a little and be…normal, or something. It's just not right for him to spend so much time down there, yah know?"

He only gave a short nod of understanding before they parted ways.

Setting her face in its usual emotionless gaze Romanoff set her course for the ship's infirmary with her mind firmly set on the discussion she was about to have with her friend. As she made her way down through the halls agents made a point to get out of her way. No one dared to hinder the woman if they valued their lives. Romanoff had never done any real, lasting harm to any other agent before, but that doesn't meant she had never done harm…When she arrived in the infirmary she continued on her little war path to Little's room. Not caring whether or not he wanted an interruption she put her thumb on the pad and opened the door.

Barton swung around and was surprised to see Romanoff standing in the doorway. She had been the one to openly shoot him down about visiting, claiming she had better things to do with her time than stare at an unconscious woman. "Tasha?"

She raised a brow. "No, I'm Stark."

He rolled his eyes at her. "What're you doing here? I thought you said you had better things to do than watch someone breathe."

She pursed her lips. "I do, and so do _you_."

"Excuse me?"

And then it began.

"You spend every waking moment in here watching her breathe and talking to her like she can hear you, but it doesn't matter! She's probably not going to care in the long run that you decided to play watchdog. Yeah, we all get it, you suddenly realized how much you like her, but it's not like she's mothered your children! Hell, you aren't even her _boyfriend_. Don't you think she might think this is a little, oh I don't know, _creepy? _Seriously, Clint, it's been a month. Yeah, I understood the first week or so when it was plausible that she might wake up, but don't you think that now she's in this coma for a long run? I mean really, you have better, more productive things to do than waste your time in here!"

The look on Barton's face slowly went from shocked to angry. "Excuse me?"

She stared him down. "You heard me, Barton. I'm sick of you spending all of your time here when there are better things you should be doing like _your_ _job!_"

He bristled at that. "Hey! If they needed me they'd say so!"

"I've never known you to have to be told do you anything! You've always just done it!"

An orderly appeared in the door. "Um…Agent Barton? Agent Romanoff? Could you keep…it…" He trailed off due to the fiery glares he was receiving from the two senior agents. Instead of continuing with his request he just backed away slowly and prayed that he wouldn't find an arrow or bullet anywhere on his person in the next few days.

Barton turned an icy glare on her. "If you were in this position I'd do the same thing!"

She returned the gaze boldly. "If I were in her position I'd kill you for shirking on your responsibilities. Just think, Clint, Little has always been a good agent. She's always done her job without hesitation and gone above many a-time without being told. Do you really think she'd approve of you wasting time watching her breathe? God! It rivals watching paint dry!" She planted her feet and looked down her nose at the man who was taller than her. "Get your head out of your ass, Barton. We _all _give a damn about her, the rest of us just realize that there are more important things that need to be done right now." With that she turned on a heel and stormed out of the infirmary.

Barton slowly sat back down in his seat and watched her go. His features were set in a deep frown as he thought about her words. She was right. Natasha was always right. Yet…What if he missed her waking up? He spent so much time there because he was determined to be there when she came too. His frown deepened and the crease on his forehead intensified. She was right, though, it did seem Little was going to be like this for a while. Perhaps it would be best to back off…but…what if he misses her waking up? He was torn. Barton buried his face in his hands and thought long and hard about the decision he knew he'd have to make tonight. In the end it was all boiling down to whether or not he thought this was more important than his job. SHIELD could fire him for not paying more attention to his duties and he certainly didn't want that.

Looking up from his hands he looked at the still form of Little. He took to his feet and walked over to stand beside the head of the bed. Gently, he brushed his hand across her forehead, slightly ruffling her short bangs. "Tasha's right, Kaleigh. How about I cut you a deal, yeah?"

Her only answer was the rhythmic inhale and exhale.

He smirked as if that was her saying yes, even though it was the only answer he ever got. "I'll come by for an hour a day, maybe once in the morning and once at night if I'm not busy, but only an hour. I have been shirking around here and using you as an excuse isn't right." He took her left hand, still in the forearm cast and healing, and played with her fingers a bit. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Barton did something just then for the first time. Bending over at the waist he pressed his lips to her forehead and placing a feather light kiss just to the side of her left temple. Straightening up he turned and walked out of the room. He would make it up to the others for his lack of focus, but he refused not to be there even for a short while for Little. Who could guess when she would finally rouse from her coma?

**A/N Again, I am soooo super sorry for taking so long with this! I had a short bout with Social Life again today, but I beat it with a rusty hammer and crawled back into my Cave of Solitude where the only light that shines is the light from the computer screen. Haha ^_^**


	14. Beep Beep Beep

**A/N Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! I'm super excited!**

**I don't own Nyan Cat (though I wish I did!)**

**Chapter Fourteen: Beep…Beep…Beep…**

Barton had stayed true to his word and visited Little once, maybe twice, each day and only for an hour at a time. The others were quite happy about this change in him. All of the doctors working on Little were happy that he was finally out from underfoot most of the day and they could to their work. The Avengers were glad to see their teammate out and about and back to actually doing his job. Some of them had been wondering if this obsession with a comatose woman was his first hop on the diving board before he would plunge into the cold depths of madness. The change had been good for Barton, too. He was actually getting more sleep, well, as much sleep as he used to get before spending sleepless hours by Little's bedside. Within the first week of his change everyone had settled back into their usual routine. By the second week no one was expecting him to go running back to the infirmary to spend every free moment watching her breathe. Everyone was used to him having his lunch in the infirmary or perhaps leaving dinner early so that he could get in his daily hour at her bedside. Truth be told, most everyone thought it was far sweeter that he found time out of his day to see her rather than find time out of seeing her to be a normal human.

Seven and a half weeks after Natasha chewed Barton out he woke up with a smile on his face. He'd had the best of dreams. As he took his morning shower and readied for the day he thought the dream over. It wasn't often that he remembered them, but this one was just too good for him to forget. He had been sitting by Little's bed, just relaxing for his usual hour and chatting to her about the day's events when her head turned to the side. He sat upright and waited, surprised to see her eyes begin to blink open and blearily look about. Barton laughed slightly at himself when he remembered how he pretty much turned into a stereotypical Disney prince when she woke up. It was a good, happy laugh. There was one thing that he now wholeheartedly believed this dream meant:

Little was waking up. _Today_.

He made his way out of his quarters and headed straight for the mess hall to get a bite to eat. There was nothing major for him to do as far as he knew so he had planned to spend most of the day either training or in the infirmary. He was certain if anyone asked that his answering with his belief that she'd wake up would be a good enough excuse for anyone…right? What did it matter? He had been good about not spending every waking moment down there for well over a month! Surely he deserved just one day, and maybe they'd all humor him if he was wrong.

He. Wasn't. Wrong. She _would _be waking up today! He'd make a bet with anyone that she would wake up before the clock struck midnight.

In the mess he was waved at to join a group of agents and Avengers at a table also enjoying their breakfast. After getting his usual breakfast of some scrambled eggs with more paprika sprinkled over them than necessary, a couple slices of toast sans butter or jam, and a golden delicious apple he plopped down amongst the group with a friendly smile as he took a big bite out of the apple.

Stark was among those at the table, not eating, just drinking his coffee, or Life as he called it. The man shot the archer a smirk. "Hey Barton, just recently we all started a betting pool on when Fifi is going to wake up. Care to place a bet? Twenty bucks and a week, just to make things fair." Everyone had finally stopped correcting Stark on his nicknaming the woman. There was no hope. She would and forever be 'Fifi' to him.

"Aw, c'mon Stark! He wasn't supposed to know!" This came from one of the agents, Agent Hinde, who had upped the anty with his own bet of forty bucks on the third week of the sixth month of her coma.

Rogers was at the table as well and frowned at them. "Isn't betting like this immoral?"

Stark snorted. "C'mon, Rogers, you've been around this era for how long and still don't realize that no one cares anymore?"

The captain only grumbled, "I care…" in return.

Agent Hinde grinned at Barton. "So, you in Barton?"

Barton smirked in return with a confidant gleam in his eye. "Sure."

Stark pulled out his phone and quickly had a calendar with several red dates. "Alright, next week is booked. You've got the next three weeks, though. Oh! How about the week of her birthday? Everyone thought that'd be too obvious and cliché to place a bet then!"

The smirked. "Twenty on today."

Everyone gawked at him like he was crazy.

Romanoff, who had been sitting beside Rogers and stayed silent through the beginning, finally spoke up. "Clint, be reasonable. I mean, I won't lie and tell you I didn't bet, but I didn't bet on a stupid thing like today!"

He just shrugged. "I've got a feeling that today's the day. Stark, what's the pot up to, anyway?"

"Two-hundred and sixty, excluding your bet."

Barton shoveled his eggs onto the toast and made a sandwich of it all. After taking a bit, chewing, and swallowing he grinned at them. "Then I suppose by the end of today I'm gunna have two-hundred and sixty bucks sittin' pretty in my wallet."

No one believed him, but it was made official as Stark put Barton's name on a single day: today. As they finished off their breakfasts talk continued on multiple different subjects, but in the back of everyone's mind was just how ridiculous Barton was acting. He was practically strutting and fluffing his feathers as though he really were a hawk and was claiming his territory.

After breakfast Barton made his was to the infirmary where he sat for a while with Little. He told her about the bet. A smirk came to his face. Leaning forward, he whispered to her. "If I win I'm gunna keep it locked away and once you can get outta this bed I'm going to treat you to a night out, a real date." He chuckled at the thought. "SHIELD agents going on dates! What a joke, huh? Especially ones like us. Hell, the first thing you might do after getting out of bed is go on some kind of mission to get you back in the game."

Little just breathed in and out in her usual reply.

He chuckled. "Nah, Fury will probably give you plenty of time to finish healing and Lord knows you're going to need physical therapy. That's what the docs say, anyway. Your knee, especially." He pointed to her left knee that had suffered the torn ACL.

There was a knock at the door before it slid open.

Barton turned to see Doctor Banner standing there. "Hey, Doc."

Banner dipped his head. "I, uh, just thought I'd, uh, come and see Agent Little. I haven't visited in a while." The good doctor had made sure that he came by at least once or twice a week to visit the woman. He had found once he started that he actually enjoyed the visits. Getting to just talk to someone who couldn't judge him was a relief on some of his unending stress.

The archer gave his usual grin. "Yeah, of course. I've gotta hit the range anyway." As he walked out he gave the man a strong pat on the shoulder.

Giving his shoulder a little roll, Banner walked into the room and plopped down into _Barton's _seat. He smiled slightly at the comatose woman. Her hair had grown out to a full two and a half inches, but one would only be able to tell if they grabbed a ringlet and held it out to its full length. Her hair was, indeed, very curly and stuck mostly to her head in quirky looking afro of sorts. All of the bruising was completely gone from her body and all of her cuts were now just pink scars. The most identifying and noticeable scars were the ones that cut into her right brow, across her left cheek bone, and slid from just to the right of the center of her bottom lip down to her chin. Banner smirked. The one from her lip to chin always put a bit of a lopsided grin on his face. It pulled on her lip a bit, making it pucker just slightly. It always made him grin just a little.

"Good morning, Miss Little." Banner never called her just by her last name or Kaleigh. He didn't really even like addressing her as 'Agent,' either. "It's been another eventful couple of weeks. More and more of Stark pestering me about anything and everything. That man, I swear! You know, he still calls you Fifi. It never fails, anytime someone brings you up in conversation he is actually confused about who they're talking about until it clicks that 'Little' is 'Fifi.' He's actually been trying to get some other to call you that. Sadly, I think it might be catching on."

Banner never seemed to have a problem talking to her. Maybe it was because she wasn't _actually _listening to him, but then again maybe it's because he often remembered back to when she showed him to the lab. He let himself drift off into remembrance.

_"You're gunna love it, Doc. We've got all the toys."_

_ Banner followed the woman, watching her black curls bounce and swish over her back as they walked. He really should have been paying attention to the ship and where everything was and where they were headed, but he found her hair interesting for some odd reason. When they arrived at the lab she opened the door and waved an arm in a grand motion._

_ "Welcome to your luxury suite, Doctor Banner. Make yourself at home and get well acquainted with everything. This is your place to just do what you do."_

_ He gave her a small smile. "Uh, thank you, Agent…? I'm sorry, I didn't catch what Fury called you."_

_ She held out a hand. "Little. Agent Little. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask." She was looking over a strange little device sitting on the counter as she spoke to him. Her eyes kept darting from screens to utensils to machines about the room with interest. _

_ "Do you not spend your time in a lab, Miss Little?"_

_ "_Agent _Little, Doctor, and no. I'm no scientist. Yeah, I'm good with numbers and math. Got pretty far in high school, but that's about it. I am good at zoology, but that's about it."_

_ Banner chuckled and looked around the lab. It was pretty high tech and quite nice. He'd enjoy working here. "Well, thank you, Mi—Agent Little."_

_ She gave him a small smile and a dip of her head. "You're welcome, Doctor."_

_ He had watched her leave with a small smile. She was nice, polite, and as curious as a cat. _

Coming back into his right mind, Banner gave a small smile. He had no romantic inclinations towards the woman whatsoever. He had pretty much banned himself from being with someone just in case he ever lost what little control he had over the Other Guy. However, he was perfectly certain that when she came to they just might get along as friends. They did have one big thing in common, too, and that helped. The way Banner saw it was that when provoked both of them could turn into massive, enraged beasts. Sure, she would be a bear or perhaps a big cat of sorts, but still, it was a nice sentiment. It felt good to draw even the slightest of similarities between himself and any of his teammates since there were so few.

He gave a small chuckle. "Word on the ship is that Barton is dead set on you waking up today. I know this might not make a difference, but would you mind doing me a huge favor and actually waking up? If you don't none of us will hear the end of it and Lord knows Stark will never let Barton live it down." He glanced up at the clock on the wall above the viewing window. He'd been in there for nearly forty minutes. Apparently his little flashback had lasted longer than he'd expected. Ah, well. He looked back to the woman on the bed and gave another lopsided smile. People who weren't around never made mistakes. Well, it goes the same for coma patients. Banner knew nothing about Little except for what he read from her file and heard about when he dared to ask a question. She seemed to be a great person. He only hoped that the light he painted her in wouldn't dim when she awoke.

Standing, he gave her a short, polite nod. "I should be getting back to the lab. Who knows what Stark has done to it while I've been away?" He shook his head sadly at the thought. Less than an hour could spell complete chaos when dealing with the billionaire. "If you don't wake up today I'll stop by before the end of next week. Until then, Miss Little." He left the room and made his way back through the halls. As he did he saw Agent Barton heading his way from the other end of the long corridor.

Once the archer noticed Banner his pace picked up a bit. "Doctor Banner, how was the visit? Did she show any signs of waking up?"

The man shook his head and held back the slight smirk. "No. She's, uh, still out."

Barton nodded. "Oh, alright, well, have a good visit?"

"Yeah."

They continued on their separate paths.

Barton cast a look over his shoulder at the retreating form of the doctor. It wasn't that he didn't like the man, no, he actually enjoyed his company whenever he wasn't in one of his sciency-chat moods. He just felt there was _something _he needed to keep his guard up for. What exactly, he wasn't sure. He just knew.

The rest of the day followed without any special incident. SHIELD agents and Avengers alike continued about their normal workdays of training, science, communications, and missions just like it went every other ordinary day. Towards the end of the day Barton found himself back in the infirmary when he was no longer on duty and didn't feel like training. He'd eaten his dinner and was now watching the clock. A frown was beginning to fall upon his features. There were only four hours left of the day and there was still no sign of Little waking up. Heaving a massive sigh he left the room for his own to retrieve the standard issue tablet. He needed something to do to pass the time since he was dead set on staying in the infirmary until she woke up which _would _be in the next few hours. Once back in his seat—which he noticed felt a little funny—he began tapping and sliding through the displays of the tablet. Pulling up the world news he began to read. It was always important for him to stay updated on current events. One never knows when they will be asked to take out some body and he preferred to have some inkling of an idea as to why.

Barton looked up at the clock when he had become bored with the articles.

_9:57 PM_

He gave a little sigh and looked back at the screen of his tablet. To waste time he starting surfing around on the internet, catching up on the latest trends and shaking his head at what could be considered entertaining. What on Earth made a poptart-cat flying through space with a rainbow shooting out of its ass as hilarious? Sadly, the internet quickly bored the man out of his skull and he made himself set the tablet aside. Turning his head he glanced at the clock and grimaced.

_10:41 PM_

She had a little over an hour to wake up. Barton had a bad feeling he had made a serious ass out of himself the entire day. Why had he been so cocky about it? Why didn't he just believe it and let it be from there? He set his left arm on the bed and rested his chin upon it. With his right hand he played with Little's left hand. It was no longer in a cast, just a firm black brace. Her right arm was still stiffly wrapped, however, but seeing as how heavily damaged it was in comparison that wasn't surprising. Barton continued to look her over while thinking about all the progress she'd made. She was healing nicely, or so the doctors said. Her broken bones were mending well. The only big thing any of them worried over was her left knee. The torn ACL would take more time and therapy than her other injuries. Even if she was to wake up she would still be out of the game for at least another seven to eight months with physical therapy for all of her injuries combined. As he thought about all of this Barton found his eyes beginning to feel heavy and tired. His train of thought began to slow as he started…to…

He jerked his head upright. What time was it? He looked to the clock.

_11:28 PM_

Longest. Blink. Ever.

Barton rubbed a hand over his face and yawned. It was getting late, but he really didn't want to leave. He knew that she wasn't waking up tonight and that she probably wasn't going to wake up for many more nights. All of this over a silly dream…Dreams…Dreaming…

He jerked his head up again and blinked. Perhaps he should just head back to his room if he was going to keep drifting off like this. He looked up at the clock and shook his head.

_11:47 PM_

Thirteen more minutes. Was it possible? Was thinking it's possible seem perfectly insane? Yes…

Barton leaned his head in his hand and went back to playing with Little's fingers. He told himself if he fell asleep one more time he'd just leave and come back tomorrow. However, he was freaking determined not to fall asleep again before the last few minutes ticked on by. There was still just that tiny, miniscule sliver of hope deep within him that told him she could wake up before the clock struck twelve.

He looked at her and smirked slightly. "C'mon, Cinderella, the ball's over. The clock's about to strike twelve. Time to head home."

Little just breathed her usual response.

Barton shook his head at himself and continued playing with her fingers. He kept glancing occasionally at the clock. Each minute that passed was a minute that dug a needle just a bit deeper beneath his skin. He looked up at the clock one last time.

_11:59 PM_

He sighed slightly and put his head back on his arm. Maybe he'd just wait a little longer. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Half an hour at the most, right? He'd just wait.

_Beep…Beep…Beep…_

What was that horribly annoying noise?

_Beep…Beep…Beep…_

It sounded like some kind of monitor. Heart, perhaps?

_Beep…Beep…Beep…_

Eyes opened blearily and searched the walls for a clock. What time was it?

_2:37 AM_

Agent Little tilted her head back to look at the looming monitors about her. _Huh, it is a heart monitor. God I hate that sound…_

She made to lift her right hand to rub her face but found it was heavier than she ever remembered. Looking down she saw the plain white cast encasing her arm. The beeping increased slightly as she began to freak out mentally. Her arm was in a cast! Looking down she could see her right leg was incredibly bulky through the sheets. Was her leg in a cast too! _What the hell! Where the hell! How the hell! What happened!_

When she went to check what her left arm looked like she couldn't move it. She turned her head to find it was pinned beneath the arms and head of a sleeping form. She tried to say something, but her throat was as dry as pavement on a hot day. Swallowing as much saliva as she could manage to produce, she finally wet her throat enough to form a single dry, cracked word.

"Clint?"

**A/N She's awake!**


	15. Promise

**A/N So she's awake! Happiness!**

**Chapter Fifteen: Promise**

Agent Little tugged on her left hand, trying to free it from Barton's hold. She grimaced and grunted as she gently tried to remove her hand. While she wanted to wake him so that she might liberate her arm she also hated to wake sleeping people. It was just plain rude. She gave her arm one last tug and freed it from his grasp. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, but a frown soon followed. Her wrist was in a firm brace. But…why? She couldn't remember what had happened that landed her in the SHIELD infirmary. Or…perhaps it was just a normal hospital. She looked around the room and found the SHIELD logo emblazed on the back of the door. It _was_ the infirmary! Clearing her throat she put her hand on the sleeping man's arm. He hadn't woken up when she tugged her arm, thankfully, but now she needed him to join the conscious world.

"Clint? Clint, wake up."

Her voice scratched and squeaked. She strained again to wake him with words, but the strain only caused her to cough painfully. She would kill for a glass of water…

Barton's head jerked upwards and he rubbed his face as a yawn burst forth from a wide mouth. He dropped his hands and looked at Little. At first he thought he saw her vivid eyes staring back at him, but that wasn't possible. No, she was in a coma, she couldn't be staring at him.

"Clint?"

He knew he had to be dreaming! She was talking to him! Yet, it wasn't the same deeply seductive voice he knew from memory and dreams. It was a harsh and strained voice. He felt a slight pressure on his hand. Looking down he saw her slender fingers wrapped around his.

It hit him like a sack of bricks…No. Harder than that. It hit him as thought the Hulk decided to use him as a hacky-sack. Yeah…that was the proper simile. His face was a perfect picture of shock. "Kaleigh?"

She gave a weak smile.

"Holy shit…"

Barton jumped out of his seat and slammed his thumb into the red button repeatedly.

Little just sat back and watched Barton get pushed to the back corner as the room filled with doctors and nurses. Bright lights were flashed across her eyes to check the reactions. She was forced to go through test after test for proper physical and reflexive responses. Finally, Doctor Markson sent the others away and took the seat to Little's right, knowing Barton would probably throw a fit if he sat to her left where the archer always sat.

The doctor held up a tablet, poised and ready to take down the necessary notes. "Miss, can you tell me your name?"

Barton, who was leaning against the far wall, scoffed. "She knows he na—"

"Agent Barton, please, let me do my job."

The archer grumbled quietly to himself.

Markson turned back to the woman. "Can you tell me your name?"

She looked at the doctor confused as to why he would ask such a silly question. "Agent Little of SHIELD."

He gave her a look. "Your full name, Miss, and no titles."

Her brows came together. "Kaleigh Joanna Little."

He nodded. "Do you have any living family?"

"I have a twin sister named Kileigh Joann Little. I'm the older of the two."

The doctor nodded and put in the information, talking slightly to himself. "Verbal responses good. No signs of dysarthria." He looked up and saw that both agent sin the room were staring at him as though he'd gone green. "Inability or difficulty to articulate properly." He turned back to Little. "What's the last thing you remember? Do you remember going into battle in New York City, Agent Little?"

She nodded. "Yes. I remember much of it and everything we did. But…" Her brows came together. "I…I don't remember what happened _to me_. How did this happen?" She lifted her heavy right arm and gestured to her bulky leg. "What happened?"

Markson nodded. "I'll explain, but first, I need to know what your last memory of that day is."

Little closed her eyes and leaned her head back to remember. "I remember fighting those monsters, but it wasn't doing much. We were holding them at bay, but not really defeating them." Her brows knitted together. "I remember when Cli—Agent Barton fell and crashed through the window. I went to make sure he was alright." A small smile came to her face and she opened her eyes, locking them on the man across the room. "I told him not to get killed and he told me to get my ass out there." She stopped and looked down at the blanket lying across her legs. "That's it…I remember jumping out the window and landing on a sled…but that's it." Her eyes suddenly snapped open in fear and worry. "Did we win? Is everyone alright?"

The doctor put a reassuring hand on her arm. "Calm down. Everyone _else _is fine and has been for a while, you on the other hand, are—"

Her eyes fixed the man with a stare so strong it could melt metal. "What do you mean 'for a while'?" Her gaze slid from his to Barton's form across the room. There was a look on his face that told her all she needed to know. Looking back to the doctor her hard gaze returned. "How long have I been out?"

Markson sighed slightly. "Almost three months. The end of next week would have made it official."

Little brought her left hand to her face and rubbed her eyes with her free fingers. She stopped mid rub when she felt the tips of her hair brushing her fingers. Her jaw dropped open as she pulled the length of hair to its full, short length. "What happened to my hair!"

"You sustained a serious head injury along with some minor ones. In order to proper stitch everything we needed to get your hair out of the way. I'm sorry, it was necessary."

She did her best as crossing her injured arms, but it looked more like they were just lying on her stomach. "What happened to me?"

"Well, we'll go from the bottom up. Your right tibia sustained a simple oblique fracture, you tore your left anterior cruciate ligame—"

"I swear to God, Doc, if you keep using those medical terms I'm going to rip a chunk out of your ass the first chance I get!"

Barton pushed off from where he was standing. He knew that at some point she wasn't going to take any of the news with a smile and laugh. He planned on stepping in whenever she seemed hostile. Now seemed like a pretty good time for that. "Hey, Doc, why don't you let me explain?"

The doctor stood and straightened his lab coat. He gave the man a nod and made to leave. "Let me know if you need any assistance, Agent Barton." He was honestly more than happy to leave the room. The man knew that Little couldn't get out of bed just yet, let alone cause serious bodily injury, but there was still something about the woman that was perfectly terrifying.

"Good morning, Sleepin' Beauty."

Little shot him with a glare. "That isn't funny…Anyway, the real Sleeping Beauty was asleep for one hundred years…"

He chuckled as he sat down. "Alright, are you ready to hear all the bad news? We've even got video of how it all happened if you'd like to watch it. I wouldn't advice that, though, it's pretty nasty."

She looked down at herself and nodded. "I want to see it. First, though, tell me how bad off I am…or was…whatever."

He nodded. "Fair enough. Alright, you've broken two bones in your right leg. Tore a ligament in your left knee in half. Doc says that'll take the most time rehabilitating. Dislocated your right hip. Broke two bones in your right arm, sliced through a muscle in the right arm. Loads of cracked and bruised ribs. Broken right clavicle. Broken left wrist. Dislocated left shoulder. Plenty of lacerations to leave you with pretty battle scars. You cracked your skull along with the cuts Markson was telling you about."

With each new bit of information her face fell more and more and her chest sunk in on itself in her despair. It all sounded so horrible. She looked up at him. "And how am I now?"

He smiled. "Marvelous, actually. Doc says you've been healing really well. Your wrist is almost completely healed. No lasting damage from the dislocations. Your right leg is getting there, along with your arm. The clavicle is healed. All of your cuts are just scars now and no more bruises, though some were pretty nasty. I thought they'd never fade. Your head is alright, though everyone worries about your memory."

She snorted. "My memory is just fine. Go ahead, ask me anything. I bet I won't get a single question wrong."

"I do love a challenge." He gave her a wry smirk. "I'll start you off easy: How old are you?"

"Twenty-nine. My birthday is March twentieth, nineteen-eighty-three."

Barton smirked. "Alright, what was your dog's name as a kid?"

She was openly shocked by the question. "How do you know about Harley?"

"We, well, _I _got a hold of your sister and invited her to visit you. She came out about a week or so after it all went down."

Her waking up paled in comparison to what happened next.

Agent Little smiled softly, her eyes almost welling in tears. "Kileigh came to see me? How sweet! I admit I miss her and I'm sad I left them without saying goodbye. I just wish I could've woken up when she was here. It's been six years since we last say each other."

Barton blinked at her. _What! _"Uh…Joann told me you guys got into a huge fight. She even has scars from where you broke her arm. You said goodbye…kinda…"

Little gasped. "I never broke her arm! I mean, yeah we got into a couple spats that came to blows, but I don't think I've ever done any more damage than a black eye. I remember decided to join SHIELD and leaving, that's that!" The look she set him with just dared him to tell her she was wrong.

_Fucking…Shit…_This was what they were worried about. "Did you ever tell Harley to eat your sister's favorite yellow and black hat?"

Her brows came together. "Kileigh never had a yellow and black hat."

"Kaleigh, what's my middle name?"

She looked at him, perfectly confused. "I have no idea, Clint, why would you ask?"

He frowned and shook his head. "Because you used to know. Just like your sister owned that yellow and black hat. Just like you broke her arm. You don't remember."

"_I don't remember because it never happened!_"

A nurse poked her head in. "Is everything alright?"

Barton waved her off before turning back to Little. "Kaleigh, the doctors said that you might lose some of your memory because of the damage, but they also said you could end up getting it back. It'll take time, but hopefully you'll remember. I can hope that you remember stuff from high school and all that, because I can't help with that."

She nodded. "I remember." This statement was followed by a snort. "I remember Kileigh because a whiny, jealous bitch most of the time. God, she always hated that I was popular. I bet she still does, too! It's not my fault I was a social butterfly back then and she was awkward and shy."

He smirked. "And there she is."

Little raised a brow. "Who?"

He chuckled. "You. You know, Joann said you were the popular attention-whore in high sch—"

"Attention whore! Well, it's no wonder I apparently broke her arm! What she calls attention-whoring was me being social and friendly!"

He shrugged. "She's pretty jaded about it, but hey, that's between you two." He looked up at the clock. It was almost four in the morning.

Little looked Barton over. He had been lying on her hand when she woke up. This meant he had been in the room and happened to fall asleep. That meant that he had been in the room in general. She couldn't help but blush ever so slightly. "So…about that video?"

He nodded and grabbed his tablet that he'd set on the bedside table. "Right." He tapped around on the screen for a bit before adjusting his chair so that he and Little were facing the same direction. He leaned against the bed and held the screen up for her and pressed 'play.'

She blanched at the sight of her falling and bouncing down the street like a rogue bouncy ball on stairs. When she swallowed it was quite audible. "Oh…"

He set the tablet aside. "Yeah, I said it wasn't all that pretty."

"Pretty…That makes me wonder. What do I look like?"

He turned and looked at her. Their faces were perhaps just over six inches apart. His eyes looked over her features. The three noticeable scars on her face didn't hide or ruin the fact that she was very easy on the eyes. With sleekly arched brows (one broken by the scar), a small button nose, delicate cheek bones and a firm chin she was _quite_ attractive. Without realizing exactly what he was doing, Barton reached up a hand and stroked his thumb along the scar on her chin. "For a woman who just woke up from a coma, you look…great."

Little felt her cheeks burning from the sweet compliment as she stared back at him. She would have brought her own hand up to touch his cheek, but she felt it would be slightly awkward attempting to be romantic with a scratchy brace on one arm and a cast on the other. Instead, she settled for biting her bottom lip slightly as she pondered if it was worth it to close the gap.

Barton could have audibly groaned if he didn't have more self control. Did she have to bite her lip like in that perfectly adorable and sexy manner!

_Aw, fuck it!_

While she pondered, he acted.

Barton closed the six inch gap between them, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

Little's first reaction was wide-eyed terror. For all her popularity in high school and her outlaw ways at the school for the gifted, Little was hilariously inexperienced with men. She was a flirt at times, she had kissed a few fellows back in the day, and, sure, she had lost her V-card to an old boyfriend in high school, but compared to other women her age her sexual experience was so nearly nonexistent it was laughable. However, after a split moment of fear, she started to kiss him back and found her eyes beginning to slide shut. She smiled into the kiss knowing that this is what she had always hoped it would be like had she ever gotten the chance to kiss Agent Barton…Agent Clint Barton…She chuckled a little. Agent Clinton Francis Barton.

Little broke the kiss with a gasp. "Francis!"

He stared at her in confusion. "What?"

"Your middle name! It just came to me!"

He leaned back with a grimace. "No! I was hoping you'd never remember!"

She chuckled slightly at his dramatic display. "Oh, hush."

Barton gave her a small smile. "Promise not to tell anyone else?"

She drew an X over her heart. "Promise…on one condition."

He leaned closer to her. "And what might that be?"

Agent Little beamed a smile. She had always wanted to do that cliché, movie scene! "Kiss me again."

There were no objections for the opposite party as he leaned back in to press another kiss to her lips. To hell with it being too soon! Barton couldn't help but wish that she wasn't stuck in that damn hospital bed where security cameras were always focused on her, making sure she was alright. He'd much rather her be in his (or her) personal quarters were the cameras aren't rolling. But, hey, ce la vie, n'est pas? He would happily settle for kissing her.

**A/N Oh, Clint, you frisky boy you! What can yah do, though? He's a guy! Anyway, I hope you guys appreciate the chapter! Will more of her memory return? Who knows! So far things are looking up…maybe…BUM BUM BUM.**


	16. Kaleigh or Jo?

**A/N Thanks so much for all the reviews! Also, for those wondering about the bet, you shall find out shortly if Barton won or not ^_^**

**Chapter Sixteen: Kaleigh or Jo?**

It wasn't long after the kiss that the doctor came back in to finishing running the necessary tests on the newly awoken patient. Barton pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaving to his quarters so that he could get some actual sleep. He promised he see her as soon as possible the following day. As he left the infirmary there was a rather pleased grin on Barton's face. Little was awake and he was pretty sure he just might have won the bet. The bet didn't matter that much, what mattered was that Little was awake. And he'd kissed her. There was a spring in his step and a smirk on his face that refused to leave. Man, he felt like he had just hit first bulls-eye. It was a fantastic feeling. Barton was far from walking on Cloud Nine, but he had to admit his head was in the clouds. When he got back to his quarters he collapsed onto the bed and almost instantly fell asleep. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he was horizontal.

Morning came in the infirmary and Agent Little was still awake and grimacing through the continuous questioning. Her entire childhood was being put into question. She would have wondered how they knew about all of this if it hadn't been SHIELD doing the questioning. Surely they could find all of this information out with ease. While they questioned her she played with the metal pendant she had seen dangling from her IV. When she had put the necklace on she was almost moved to tears. She knew she and her sister were no longer close and she knew that was probably her fault (not that she ever admit that verbally), but for Joann t have kept the necklace instead of trashing it made her smile. It had been the one thing they _both _had in common that they didn't mind.

"Agent Little?"

She stared down at her necklace with a small smile as she ran a thumb over the paw print.

"Agent Little?"

She continued to play deaf. Oh, she had heard the doctor; she was just refusing to answer him. She had better things to do with her time than to answer his barrage of questions.

"_Agent Little!"_

She huffed with a small, playful grin. "What!"

Markson didn't look amused. "This is important. Please, try to focus."

Little glanced over at the clock. It was approximately eight-thirty in the morning. "Doc, we've been at this for _hours_. Can't I rest? Or at least have something else to do? A book, perhaps? My tablet? Please, I'm so sick of answering questions! We get it, I've lost bits and pieces here and there, but I still know what year it is, who I am, and all the important shit."

"We still haven't determined if you've forgotten anything of your time here at SHIELD. That's the most important thing. We just fe—"

She began to growl. "Than why didn't you start with that!"

He cleared his throat. "We felt it was more important to begin with your youth and travel upwards. However, seeing as how you're taking it, why don't we just move along, yeah?"

She just stared at him as though she was attempting to manifest a new power that would set him ablaze.

The doctor tried his best to ignore the fiery stare as he cleared his throat. "Alright, how long have you wor—"

"Six years. I began my training in January of two-thousand-six. I was made a full agent by August of the same year. Initially, I was sent out on simple tasks and missions until Fury realized that I'm good at what I do. It took me a couple o' years, but I finally got high enough in the ranks that he started paring me with the top dogs like Barton and Romanoff. Still, though, I was often sent out alone. As for what I do, I'm a spy, and a damn good one. I can be that mouse scurrying across the floor or a bird chirping in the window. I've taken out a couple people, when necessary. Fury told me the only reason I didn't make it into the Avengers Initiative the first go-round was because it's no secret I'm a particular favorite of his and I did fall just short of a couple other agents who had more experience than me. Oh well, as far as I'm concerned I'm part of them now." She stopped and looked at the doctor. "Is that enough for you?"

Markson closed out of the screen on his tablet. "Yes, that's enough. You remember enough to not be a liability." He stood and was about to leave when her voice stopped him.

"When will I be out of this bed, Doc?"

He turned at the door and looked at her. "Well, _that _bed will be empty soon when we move you from intensive care to the normal recovery ward. From there it all depends on how quickly you heal. I'd say another few weeks to a good month of bed-rest before you can get up and go around. You'll be given a wheelchair when the time comes. However, you will still report back here each evening for rest. It'll be a while before you return back to your own quarters, Agent Little."

She sneered at his back as he walked out.

The door hadn't been shut more than five seconds before it slid open again. Fury walked in flanked by a smiling Stark carrying a small gift bag.

The director gave her a nod. "The doctors informed me you were awake. It's good to see you're up."

She smiled at her boss. "Thanks. I could've done without the six hour interrogation, but once Barton found out I've apparently forgotten a few things from my past all hell broke lose. I passed the test, though. Whatever I don't remember isn't going to be dangerous or anything."

Fury took the seat to her right and nodded. "Good, good. They say you'll be out of the ICU shortly. I'll be the first to admit that we were worried when you first came in. It didn't look good."

Her smile faded away. "I know…Barton showed me the video."

And enter Stark's too-happy comment. "What a fall, right? I mean, the judge from Russia only gave you a nine-point-three, but you totally earned perfect tens."

Little rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks Stark."

Fury shook his head. "Well, I just stopped by to check on things. I'll visit with the doctors and get everything squared away properly." He stood and with a rather overly dramatic sweep of his long trench coat he left the room.

And then there were two.

Stark smiled happily at the woman. "So, did you enjoy your little cat-nap?"

Little narrowed her eyes at him. "Stark, you're pushing it. I may have forgotten a few things, but I haven't forgotten about the dog biscuit."

He smirked. "C'mon, Fifi, you know you liked it."

"Don't call me that."

"What, Fifi?"

"Yes…"

He smirked again. "Too bad. I don't think I remember your actual name at this point."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "You'll never call me anything else, will you?"

Stark walked over and plopped himself down in the seat just recently vacated by the director, setting the small bag on the floor beside him. "Nope." He made a point to pop the 'p' at the end of the word. Reaching inside the pocket of his blazer, he pulled out a small pamphlet. "So, Barton was always telling us how we needed to visit you, spend time in here, chat about the weather and all that jazz. He even told me to just come in here and rag on you if I had to." He snorted. "That wasn't likely. However, he did mention getting you a doggie gift basket or somethi—"

"I'm gunna bite him…"

Stark chuckled. "But I thought of something better!" He handed her the pamphlet. "Now you can go run around with your kin."

Little looked down at the brochure and would have snapped at him for being an ass if she wasn't touched by it. There were dogs on the front part running around a large enclosure containing tunnels, ladders, and those doggie teeter-totters. She chuckled at the name written across the top. _A Little Place for Paws._ She opened the brochure and saw more pictures of dogs enjoying themselves. There were details about the park. It was two acres with a pond that covered half an acre. There was an obstacle course of tunnels, tubes, and ladders that went into slides. Near the front gate there was a row of small vending machines filled with different kinds of dog treats. Little looked up and smiled at the billionaire. "Stark, this is amazing!"

He grinned. "I know. Everything is in your name, but everything will be maintained by my people. All you have to do is go and enjoy, let your fur down and wag that tail."

She threw the brochure at him as best she could.

A devious little smirk formed on his face. "However, there is one major rule you'll have to follow: All dogs must be collared and brought in on a leash."

She glared at him, not liking where this was going.

"So I got you this!"

Stark picked up the gift bag and handed it to Little. "Now, don't go throwing this away. It's very special."

She frowned and reached into the bag. Had she not been utterly shocked by his arrogantly bold gift she would have thrown it out a window the first chance she got. She was holding a lavender-blue collar with a matching leash that matched her eyes. On the collar was a diamond shaped tag with 'Fifi' etched into it on one side and the address to the Stark Tower in New York City on the other side. It was a simple collar, nothing too fancy or decorative. She gave him a stern look. "I'm not wearing this, Stark."

"Then you don't get to go play with the other dogs!"

She frowned. Was it sad that she _wanted _to go and play at the park? It was a perfectly guilty pleasure of hers to let her fur down—as Stark put it—and just let her inner animal out. When the helicarrier was on the water she'd often dive into the ocean and, if they were in the right area, she'd find a pod of dolphins to play with or perhaps a family of playful otters. On land she would play with the squirrels or a flock of birds if she couldn't find some dogs or cats to romp with. It was a guilty pleasure, yes, but did she really have to wear a collar?

With a sigh she shoved the collar into the bag and set it to the side. "Fine, I'll keep it."

Stark stood and clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Well, I have to go and find Barton now and give him his money from the bet."

Her brows came together. "What bet?"

He smirked. "Oh, we were betting on when you'd wake up. Barton bet you'd wake up yesterday and since he was only short by about two and a half hours I've decided—as both judge and founder of the bet—that he deserves to win the pot."

That made her bristle. "You were betting on me! He was betting on me!" She glowered, but her mood flipped quickly. "How much did he win?"

"The total pot, including his bet, was two-eighty."

She nodded. "In that case, never mind. I would've been pissed if it was a small amount, but that's a pretty good sum."

Stark chuckled and headed for the door. "Well, I'm off to do my job of science and annoying the crap outta Banner. Which reminds me; I'll let him know you're conscious. He's been in here a few times to see yah and I'm sure he'd like to see you."

This confused the woman. "Banner's been in here?"

He nodded. "Yeah, about once a week or so, depending on how often he shackles himself to the lab room. I honestly think he's the only one Barton could convince to come visit you. Well, Doctor Selvig has once or twice, but not as often as Banner." He gave a little wave. "See yah later, Fifi."

Little watched him go with her brows knitted together for two reasons. Did he have to call her that? Also, she had been a little surprised to find Barton in the room when she woke up, but once she found out that he'd been spending and hour or two every day in there she was touched and actually kind of giddy to know that the only guy she was at all attracted to in SHIELD cared about her. It made her smile. Yet…Banner? He had come to visit her and that shocked her. The only time she had ever exchanged words with the man was when she had shown him the way to the lab on his first day. It had been a simple conversation and she had been polite like she usually was the first go-round with strangers. She shook her head and leaned it back, trying to relax. It didn't matter that he was a visitor. He was just being polite.

Days began to pass rather quickly in the infirmary. On the third day after her waking she was moved from the ICU room into a much more comfortable (and welcoming) room in the long-term recovery ward. It was a touch bigger than her ICU room, the bed was wider and thicker, she had _two _pillows, there were two chairs, a little loveseat, _and_ there was a personal bathroom for her use once she was able to get out of bed. Until then, bedpan. She shivered at just how unappealing it was to have to use a bedpan. Yuck…but there was one nice perk: a window! She had a room with a view of the ocean rolling out to greet her. Ah, what a view…

Barton had already claimed his chair and put it on her left side. It quickly became known as _Barton's _chair again, though Little seemed completely oblivious to the fact that no one else ever sat in it…except for one person.

She was lying in the bed having a nice chat with Banner, who was sitting in _Barton's _chair. He had finally gotten around to visiting her though nearly a week and a half had passed since she woke up. "So, Stark tells me you were a relatively frequent visitor of mine."

Banner gave his shy little nod. "Yes. It was nice to just talk to someone even if they weren't listening. It sounds odd, really, but it's true."

She smiled. "I'm glad I could lend you my ears, Banner, even if they weren't entirely listening." She leaned against her two very soft pillows. Reaching down she undid the straps holding on her brace and slid it off. Markson told her it would be best if she started working out her wrist. A small grimace came to her face.

Banner raised a brow. "You alright, Miss Little?"

Looking up at him she gave a small nod. "Yeah, I'm fine, and please call me Agent Little or just Little. I don't like being called 'Miss,' alright?" She continued to rotate her wrist, reveling in how good it felt. She hadn't realized just how stiff it would be after her coma, but it had never felt so good to twist it like this before.

He shook his head and gave a small smile. "No, I'm not a fan of the whole surname deal. I'd rather everyone around here call me Bruce instead of Banner."

She looked him over for a moment and narrowed her eyes. She didn't want him calling her Kaleigh, or even Leigh. No…but he didn't want to call her Little. So, middle ground. She smiled slightly. "You can call me Jo."

Banner smiled and stood, holding out his left hand for her to shake. "Well, Jo, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She laughed and took his hand. "And it's a pleasure to make yours, Bruce."

They shared a nice little laugh about it.

Meanwhile, right outside the door stood Barton. He was just about to walk in when he heard the laughter through the door. His thumb hovered over the pad and he listened for a moment. He could hear whoever was in there chatting with Little and making her laugh. His brows came together as he pressed his thumb to the scanner a bit harder than necessary. The door slid open to reveal Banner sitting in _his _seat and Little with a big smile on her face. He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't perfectly jealous; however he would admit to feeling silly about being jealous. She had been awake a little over a week and though they had kissed that day they hadn't since. They still visited, but it didn't seem to come up. He had kissed her brow, but that wasn't the same. He was getting jealous over someone else making a woman who wasn't even _his _girl laugh. How perfectly sad…

Little looked over Banner's head and smiled at the archer. "Hey, Clint."

Banner stood and nodded at the man. "Barton."

"Banner."

The doctor turned to Little and gave her a smile. "I'll see you the next chance I get, Jo."

Little smiled at him. "See yah then, Bruce."

After the man left, Barton say down in the newly emptied seat and grimaced at the warmth. No one ever sat in his seat. He didn't like it…

"Clint Barton, are you jealous that someone else came to visit? If so, I should tell you that Stark pops in to bother me occasionally, too."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not jealous…"

Little chuckled. "Oh, Clint, that is the most adorable shade of green on you. Now, put on your Big Boy pants and enough of this foolishness." Stretching forward she took his hand that was resting slightly on the bed. "Anyway, Bruce is, what, fifteen years older than me? If anything, he'll be a friend and a confidant."

"Why is he 'Bruce' when you call everyone else by their last name?"

She pursed her lips. "Oh, stop that, I can call anyone by their first name and you know it. I just prefer last names. He requested I call him Bruce because he's not a huge fan of last names, alright?"

"Why does he call you 'Jo'?"

She gave him a small smile and blushed. She still wasn't used to the whole admitting things. "Because you're the only one who gets to call me Kaleigh."

Barton grinned, his ego no longer bruised. He gave her fingers a squeeze and a little wink of his blue eyes. "Won't say I'm not happy to hear that, Kaleigh."

Little blushed a dark shade of red that stood out boldly on her pale cheeks. She cleared her throat and watched the ocean roll by. It had been a long while since a guy last winked at her and made her blush. She had to admit…she liked it.

**A/N Alright, did you guys like it? **

**Yes? No? Better ideas I can use in future chapters? Review and let me know what you think!**


	17. Can't Spell Wheelchair without WHEEE!

**A/N Thanks for all the reviews guys! I woke up in the morning and was so giddy I squealed! Just so you know, this story has officially broken my highest record in reviews! Woohoo! For so long it has been standing at 58 for one story and I'm up to 63! I really think that by the end of this fanfiction I just might get it over 100 reviews! Guys care to help? Here's something fun, then!**

**Warning! Long chapter dead ahead!**

**_~* 70th Reviewer will get a special shout-out and will get to name a special new character coming into the story! I won't say who, but you'll find out soon! *~_**

**Chapter Seventeen: Can't Spell Wheelchair without WHEEE!**

Agent Little was relaxing in her bed and looking out the window with a sad smile. It was a perfectly gorgeous day out there. Birds were wheeling in the skies and she had even seen a few dolphins leaping in the distance. It was a day like today that she would usually head straight for the deck once she was off duty and leap into the cool waters of the ocean to have some fun with her aquatic friends. But, alas, it was not to be. She was stuck in bed. A sigh passed her lips as she watched a bird dive towards the water and come up with a fish. That could be her if it wasn't for the stupid casts…and brace…and screws…and pins…She audibly growled as to how horrible it was just sitting there with nothing to do but look outside. She was well into week three after waking up and the only good news she'd heard was that she no longer needed to wear the brace on her left hand unless it started to hurt again. Ha! Like she'd even put it back on! Being left-handed she always hated even the slightest restriction on the movement of her dominant hand. There was more good news, too. She would soon be out of the full-arm cast and into a fore-arm one. To that she always gave a big, sarcastic _Yay! _She'd still be in a cast…whoop-de-friggin'-do…

At that moment the door slid open to reveal a smiling Doctor Markson. "Good day, Agent Little. How are you?"

She set him with a nice sneer. "Fuckin' peachy."

"Restless today, I see?"

The low growl that rumbled from her chest was enough to make the doctor take a step back. She wasn't exactly pleased at his sarcasm.

He held up his hands. "Understood. I do have a little surprise for you, though. Seeing as how your left knee is healing well since you can bend it and you've proven to put even a little bit of weight on it, I've decided it's time for you to really get your rehab on a _roll_."

Little's brows came together. "Doc, what on Earth are you—Oh my God!" Her sentence was cut off by the happy exclamation and an ear splitting squeal of perfect delight.

A nurse came into the room leading a motorized wheelchair with left-handed controls. It was sleek and black and just screamed SHIELD, but that wasn't the point. The point was that she was getting out of the bed!

Markson smiled and showed her the ropes to the chair. "Alright, these are the two foot-rests that when lifted like so become the rests for your legs. Should your knee begin to hurt, just pop up the left one and there you go. Here is a tray that folds down and under like so. You can use it for carrying just about anything as it's quite strong. Now, since you're going to be out and about it will be best if you aren't in a hospital gown, so we have these." He set three folded pieces of cloth on the bed.

Little picked them up to find they were simple black sundresses with short sleeves. Eh, not her personal favorite, but they would have to do! Anyway, she was too happy to care what she wore at this point! Hell, she would go naked if it meant getting out of bed.

"Now, there are rules to your new freedom. Though you get to be out and about you will still report back here in the evenings for rest. The chair has communication links to the infirmary so we will be able to call you back here whenever necessary. You will still be responsible for attending all of your physical therapy sessions everyday at fourteen-hundred. Am I understood, Agent Little?"

She was nodding her head furiously. "Yes, understood, got it! Now, can I get going? Please!"

Markson looked at the woman and felt like a father who had just given his daughter a new bike. All she wanted to do was try it out and zoom around town to show off to her friends. He chuckled. "Yes, alright. Greene here will help you change if need be."

The nurse stepped up and grabbed the black dress that was sitting on Little's lap. "I'm glad to see you're happy about this. I mean, I know I would be, too, if I were in your position. I'd hate to be all cooped up like this."

Little leaned forward so Greene could undo the ties to her gown. "Yeah, it's a real barrel of laughs." She was far from modest as the blue checked gown was pulled away from her and before the dress was slipped over her head. Little honestly didn't care. She had once told the captain that animals don't wear shoes. Well, they don't wear clothes, either. Nudity was not something she cared about. Sure, she didn't go walking around naked, but that never meant she wasn't uncomfortable in her birthday suit. After poking her head through the neckline of the dress, she smiled. "I'm just glad to have a bit of freedom. I feel like I'm in a zoo."

Greene raised a brow. "A zoo?"

"You know, where they keep animals all calm and docile just so people can come and look at them before going home. I've never liked zoos. Inhumane, if you ask me. Anyway, now this animal is breaking out of her cage and it's sure as hell going to feel good. Hey, did the doc mention this to anyone else?"

Green just smiled and shook her head in response as she hit a button that lowered Little's bed to the same level as the seat of the chair. "Need some help?"

She was answered by the stern look of concentration as the patient repositioned and bum-hopped from the bed and onto the chair's seat. The nurse couldn't help but smile while Little enjoyed this small victory.

"Thanks for your help, Greene." Little smiled at the young woman and held out her free hand. "It's been a pleasure."

After the handshake Little grabbed the toggle and began to maneuver her way out the door. It took her a moment before she got the hang of using the controls, but soon enough she was zooming out of the infirmary and skidding around corners at a perfectly blazing three-miles an hour! Her first point of interest was the mess to get something to eat. It wasn't that she didn't like the food from the infirmary it was just that she _hated_ it. They had their own kitchen for production and she much preferred the mess.

When the doors slid open and she rolled in the entire room slowly began to fall silent. Many eyes were fixed on her as she rolled from the doors to the counter to get her food. She ignored the whispers of her name. It had been like this before. When she was climbing through the ranks of SHIELD field agents she made a bit of a name for herself. Everyone knew she was dangerous and skilled. She had never come back from a failed mission aside from the few touchy ones in the very beginning of her employment. Rumors began to spread over why she was so skilled. Trained from birth? Lab experiment? Alien? The ideas were from simple to totally far-fetched, but now they knew. Everyone in SHIELD finally knew her dirty little secret. When she had her food she planned on finding somewhere _else _to eat. As she began to roll away she heard whispers of rumors.

"I heard she even _ate _one of the Chitauri."

"Someone said she was a rampaging elephant one second than some kind of bird the next!"

"Apparently she can even turn into dinosaurs!"

That made her snort as she left the mess. Dinosaurs? Really? Who made up that silly rumor? She wouldn't lie and say she had never tried, but the closet she had ever been able to get when thinking about prehistoric beasts was what they had evolved into. She couldn't become dinosaurs! That was simply preposterous! She continued to chuckle as she made her way through the halls of the helicarrier and straight for the gym. She knew she'd find someone she could tolerate there. As she zoomed down the corridors and towards the gym she began to feel a smile growing on her face while she nibbled at the sandwich and apple she had obtained. Oh, wouldn't they be so surprised! Her smile was one to rival the Cheshire Cat's as she pressed her thumb to the pad and rolled on in.

Little inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. Ah, the gym. She loved the mixed smell of sweaty bodies, rubber, metal, and just a hint of deodorant. The air was thick with the pheromones of men and women and it drove her senses wild. That, she would admit, was a downfall of her gifts. She could sense the pheromones rolling off the bodies of those working out and it once drove her to near madness with desire before she learned to control the effect it had on her. There were times she didn't enjoy her animal tendencies. She craned her neck and rolled along the outer edge of the large room until she came to the entrance to the sparring room. Glancing in she saw the captain and Romanoff were putting up their dukes and getting ready for a go-round. Smiling she made her way into the room to watch.

Rogers opened with a right-hook, easily blocked by Romanoff who followed with a high kick aimed for his jaw. The man stepped back just enough so that the toe of her shoe just barely breathed past his chin. Little found it almost comical that a man so large and a woman so small seemed quite evenly matched on the mat. She found herself mentally shouting out instruction to the both of them until finally one of the shouts slipped. "Left upper-cut, Rogers!"

The man stumbled and lost his concentration allowing Romanoff to nail him square on the jaw. He reeled backwards and looked out for the owner of the voice.

"Agent Little?"

Romanoff's redhead snapped around and she honestly smiled. "Little! You're out and about!" She walked off the mat and made her way towards her fellow agent. "Nice ride."

Little smirked and spun the chair around. "I know, huh? I was finally given a bit of freedom."

Rogers walked up, not looking very pleased. "You shouldn't have called out like that."

The woman narrowed her eyes at him. "You should be able to keep your focus."

Romanoff smirked. "She's got you there, Steve." Bending, she picked up a bottle of water before sitting on a bench. "So how much longer are you stuck like this." She waved a hand towards the casts encasing Little's arm and leg.

"I should be getting the one on my arm off soon, but the doc says he wants to make perfectly certain my leg won't even need a brace before he removes the cast. I think that's bullshit. I mean, the least he could do it give me something for my thigh and then recast my lower leg so I can at least bend it, yah know?"

The captain shook his head. "I don't know, Kal—Little. I think you should just go along with what the doctor says. It's all for the best, you know." He had stopped himself from speaking her name when two lavender-blue irises narrowed to slits in his direction.

There was an underlying growl in her voice as she glared at the man. "Who asked you?"

Romanoff cleared her throat. "Anyway, does Barton know you're free to move around? You know he was probably just as anxious and impatient as you were for this day."

Little couldn't help but blush slightly. In the last couple weeks things between her and the archer had changed for the better, or so she saw it. After years of harboring an affection for the man she could _finally _say they were an item. She never used the terms 'boyfriend and girlfriend' when referring to them because she thought those were immature and childish, but that defined their relationship at this point. She couldn't help but think of how strangely sudden it was. The most she had ever flirted with him was the day of the battle when she nibbled on his hand. Yes, when she had heard he'd spent the first month of her coma constantly by her side she had flipped shit and refused to talk to him for a couple of days. Soon, however, she got over it and realized how sweet it was. After that it seemed like a switch was flipped and they realized the affections were mutual and decided to make a play at it.

"No, apparently no one knows about this recent development. I was gunna surprise people. So, can I assume that our little bird is playing in the range?"

Romanoff gave a little snort of a laugh. "Yeah. He's been up there all day. You know, if I didn't spend most of my time in here I would think he was crazy for working constantly like that." She brushed a red lock out of her face. "You gunna try and scare him into missing? If so, can I watch?"

Little laughed happily. "Nah, I'd rather not piss him off. You know how he gets if someone screws with him while he's practicing."

The redhead smirked. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you _screwed _with him while he was practicing. He might even stop just for you."

The girls shared a giggle while Rogers took a moment to register the innuendo. A slight flush came to his face. Since when do women speak so openly about sexual exploits? It just wasn't right…

Little chuckled. "Well, I'll catch you later, Tasha. I'm gunna go find Clint then maybe roll by the lab to see Bruce."

The spy raised a brow. "Before you go, tell me more about this whole you-and-Banner thing. I'm not gunna lie, Clint isn't a fan of it."

Little's button nose went into the air. "Well, he can deal with it. I'm allowed to have friends, aren't I? Anyway, Bruce is just really nice and it gives me someone to talk to who isn't actually part of SHIELD. He's not one of us, you know?"

"I'm not one of you…"

She turned a gaze on the captain. "You're more of a soldier than any of us. You follow the same protocols we do." She turned back to Romanoff. "Bruce doesn't."

Romanoff nodded. "Fair point. Alright, I'll see yah around."

Little waved over her shoulder as she rolled out of the gym and made her way to the firing range. There were targets of every kind there. Human, classic circles, animals, shapes, and ones specially made for arrows or knives. There were obstacle courses with rings to shoot through or tiny targets nearly impossible to hit. Little never spent any of her time in there. She had gotten special permission from Fury to not need to pass the firearm portion of the SHIELD entry exam seeing as how no matter who tried to teach her she just couldn't aim worth a crap. As she entered the range she looked up and down the rows of booths for the particular back she was looking for.

And there it was.

She wouldn't deny the flutter her heart gave when she saw the toned shoulders and back through the tight black tee-shirt that Barton was wearing. Oh, how she loved a toned and lean man. Little was picky about her 'perfect body' when it came to men. Luckily, Barton placed a checkmark in each necessary box. She loved a man who was lean and toned with some muscular build, but nothing over the top. Height never mattered to her. She rolled down the way towards the booth Barton was shooting in. There was no stopping her biting her lip as she watched him draw back an arrow and hold, waiting for the perfect moment. The closer she got she saw that he was shooting through moving rings. She could tell there was one split moment when, if timed properly, an arrow could be fired through all seven moving rings.

_Thawng!_

Little followed the arrow as best she could and was certain it had flown through all the rings. She would've clapped had her right hand not been encased. Instead, she settled for a low whistle. "Well, I could never do that even if you taught me."

Barton spun around shocked by the voice he had just heard. He knew someone had come up behind him, but he hadn't taken a care as to ponder who was there. The shock went so deep he dropped his bow. "Kaleigh?"

She gave him a big smile. "In the flesh."

He stooped to pick up his bow and waved a hand to bring attention to the whole wheelchair deal. "When did this happen?"

"Oh, about half an hour ago. I went and got a bite to eat from the mess then headed to the gym. Saw Tasha and Rogers," here she frowned, "I've gotta admit, I'm not his biggest fan." It was strange how she had started out with a tiny bit of admiration towards Rogers while wanting to chew out Tony and now she had to give a small, appreciative nod for the billionaire yet couldn't find the patience for the captain.

Barton beamed a smile at her. "This is great. Now you can get back in the swing of things while you finish healing."

She smiled back. "That's the plan." Nodding to the range, she gave him a thumbs-up. "Nice shot, by the way."

He smirked. "You sure you don't wanna give archery another try? I bet I could make you good at it."

Her three-inch long curls bounced slightly as Little shook her head. "You and I both know that's both a horrible idea and I have no sense of aim whatsoever."

Barton leaned against the wall and looked down at her. It was nice to see her looking so happy seeing as how no matter what kind of conversation they carried in the recovery room she always had this sad glimmer in her eyes. This was probably the happiest he had seen her since she woke up. "Care to share your plans for the rest of the day?"

She stopped mid spin. Little was enjoying the wheelchair just a little too much. A small chuckle passed her lips. "Well, I'm going to do everything humanly possible to get them to contemplate taking away my wheelchair privileges but stopping them with a good ol' puppy dog pout. That, and head to the lab to see Stark and Bruce and let them know of my sweet new wheels."

He was laughing up until she mentioned the lab. At that point he managed to choke out a strangled sort of chortle if one could even call it that. "Sounds great, I'll be watching the surveillance for your shenanigans." He bent over and cupped the side of her face before pressing a quick little kiss to her laughing lips.

Little beamed a smile at him as he pulled away. She was on top of the world. "Mmm, well, maybe causing mass mayhem can wait another moment or two." She reached out with her good hand before he could straighten up completely and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. She pulled him in for another kiss. As they broke the kiss, she smiled. "That'll never get old."

Barton grinned, happy to know that his kisses seemed to be more than enough for her. He cleared his throat. "You know, it'd probably be best if we _didn't _do that in public too often. You know how Fury…well…how _Hill_ feels about PDA."

She grimaced. "God, that woman seriously needs to get laid. I mean, _really _get laid." _Yes, Little, because it's been how long since _you've _been laid? Exactly. Hypocrite! _

As Barton gathered his things she continued to spin in her chair and comment on the fact that he needed to get one so they could race on the deck. It made him smile. He had never seen this adorably immature side of Little and quite frankly it was just that—adorable.

They left the range together with Little pushing her chair into a slightly higher gear to keep up with Barton's fast-paced walking. The couple chatted easily, mostly about Little's recovering and the leaps and bounds she still had to take before she was field-ready again. Neither was very happy at the thought of her being so restricted. Barton knew she was somewhat of a free spirit when not confined by duty and rules. Little just hated the whole caged and on-a-leash feeling. They arrived at the lab with small grins.

Barton bent and placed a swift kiss amongst the curly mop of hair on her head. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

She smiled and nodded as she watched him walk away. Little gave herself a moment to watch him go with a devilish smirk on her face. Not a bad view, not a bad view at _all_. She chuckled to herself as she reached up and place her thumb on the scanner. When the door slid open she rolled right on in and—for Stark's sake—made a fantastic entrance. "Gentlemen! If you would please turn your attention to the gloriously happy mutant in the wheelchair you will notice that Miss Fifi has flown the metaphorical coop known as the recovery bay!" She had used the ridiculous nickname just for shits and giggles and, again, for Stark's sake.

The two scientists looked up from the screens they were working on and smiled at the woman.

Stark walked over and began to investigate her chair. "You know, I think if you let me work on this baby for a couple o' hours you'd be even happier than you are now. How do you feel about red and gold detailing, hmmm?"

Little chuckled. "Stark, do what you will, just don't exceed SHIELD regulation. I won't be part of your dastardly plots!"

Banner smiled. "It's good to see you out and about, Jo. How's the wrist and knee?"

She beamed a happy smile at the doctor and held her left hand high, rotating her wrist quickly. "Oh, my wrist is great." She even straightened and bent her left leg—with the help of the brace she had on it—a few times to show off how much better it was getting. "And my knee is coming along. It still hurts from time to time, but overall it's definitely getting better."

Stark rubbed her head affectionately. "That's a good trick, Fifi. Now, what else can you do?"

"Bite your flabby ass for touching me."

Banner snorted as he tried to bite back a laugh.

He looked positively insulted. "My ass is _not _flabby, I'll have you know! I work out!"

She rolled her eyes. "You work out about as much as I did while comatose."

Another snort from the doctor.

Another look of pain from the billionaire.

Little smiled in triumph as she rolled over to Banner's messy, yet organized work station. "So, whatcha workin' on, Doc?" She stopped and her brows came together before she held up a hand to stop him from talking as his mouth opened. "You know what, I probably won't understand it anyway. I'll just stick with the fact that you're doing science."

Stark gave a little sniff. "Actually, he's helping me with a new idea of mine about the Stark Tower."

She raised a brow. "Chemist, doctor, and architect. I'm impressed, Bruce."

Banner just shook his head. "Nah. I'm just the wall he bounces ideas off of."

Little gave his arm a pat. "Well, I'm your wall and you know that. So tell me, if I can know, what's this new plan?"

"No! She can't know! Don't you dare tell her, Banner! It's a freakin' surprise, Damnit!"

The two looked across the room, surprised by the sudden outburst.

She held up a hand in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'll wait! Anyway, why don't we get back to the whole you doing science that I don't understand while you attempt to explain so that I can pretend I'm as smart as you?"

Banner laughed and agreed.

The rest of Agent Little's afternoon was doing exactly what she promised Barton she'd do. After leaving the lab she went around trying to use her encased leg as a battering ram, sitting parallel to the walls in a slender corridor so that people would either have to step over her leg or ask her to move, pushing the limits on how fast her chair could go around tight corners (she nearly rolled at one point), and, her personal favorite, following people through the halls and making honking noises until they would move, but never going past them. Fury found her using her leg to knock on a door and chided her childish behavior, threatening to revoke her chair privileges if she didn't straighten out. She countered with a puppy dog pout and a sniffle of agreement that she'd behave. However, once he walked away she threw her chair into reverse and channeled her inner racecar driver as she zoomed through the halls enjoying her first day of freedom from the infirmary.

That night when she went back to her room and managed to hop onto the bed unassisted she laid out and stared out the window, watching the stars reflect off the ocean. It had been the best day of her life as far as she was concerned. She made herself promise that in the morning when she saw Doctor Markson to give him a big ol' Barton-worthy kiss for freeing her from the confines of her cage. Well…maybe not a kiss _that _big, but he'd definitely be getting a hug. She sighed happily as she let herself drift off to sleep.

**A/N A perfectly childish chapter written for the freaking fun of it! **

**Like it? Love it? Review it! Also! Look down at the special message!**

**_~* 70th Reviewer will get a special shout-out and will get to name a special new character coming into the story! I won't say who, but you'll find out soon! *~_**


	18. Cherry Wood

**A/N For those who mentioned the last chapter was a little OOC I did that because no matter how perfectly serious or absolutely immature a person can be, we all have that one day where we just don't fit in the usual box of our personalities. **

**_~* The 70th reviewer was Centinibron! Be on the look out for the new face! *~_**

**Chapter Eighteen: Cherry Wood **

It didn't take long for the wonder and joy that first filled Little's heart about having freedom to fade. By the third morning she was no longer testing everyone's patience with her endless shenanigans. She went by the gym each day to see people, but by her fifth visit she couldn't take the feeling of not being able to join them. It hit her hard when she realized she couldn't just jump up from her chair and hit a treadmill or grabs some weights. She stopped going to the gym as to ease the heartache it caused her. The one thing that really brightened her slowly darkening mood was when she got the cast off her arm. At first she was dreading the fact that she would then be put into yet another cast, but Markson decided on the spot that it wouldn't be necessary. Instead she was given a full arm brace that allowed for better movement and use. It felt so good to extend her elbow again. While Little was enjoying the new found freedom of her arm, the doctor was explaining the next steps in her seemingly endless recovery.

"Now, Little, the cast on your leg will be coming off in two weeks ti—"

Her ears perked up at that and she turned to look at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "Seriously?"

He nodded and continued. "Yes, you will be given a brace for your leg which will only be removed when bathing. There is a shower-chair in the stall fo—"

And into the hands her face went! "I'm an _old_ lady! I have a _shower_-_chair_!"

Markson ignored her whines and went on with his little speech. "Once I decide you're ready you will undergo one last surgery to removes the screws and pins used. Hopefully nothing bad will happen an—"

"Stop talking about it or my leg will shatter in surgery or something crazy like that!"

He held up a hand to silence his patient. "Fair enough. Anyway, at that point it'll all be physical therapy until you're fit to go into the field again. It's been four months since your crash and things are really coming along. The only thing we really, _really _need to watch is your knee. Your bones are looking great, but since we couldn't graph a new ACL into your knee because of the whole mutant DNA thing, we're placing all our chips that it won't give out. Scans indicate it's healing well, but we can't be certain until you really get back into using it."

She pursed her lips. "I _was _having a good day until you told me that." She chewed on her bottom lip a bit. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. For now, I'm due with Gordon for my therapy session."

Markson nodded. "Of course." He may have been the doctor overseeing her case, but he wasn't the one working on every inch of it. He left the room while keeping an eye on the patient hopping from bed to chair. It was the cleanest hop he'd seen yet now that she could make better use of her right arm.

Little adjusted to a slightly more comfortable position in the chair and headed down the hall to the room filled with small weights, exercise balls, balance beams, and other assorted workout equipment used in therapy. She sighed. This was her least favorite time of day. "Hey Gordon! I'm here!"

Gordon, an older agent-turned-medical with wispy white hair, came rolling around the corner in a wheeled office chair and gave her a toothy grin. "Good afternoon, Agent Little. Ready to get to work?" Gordon had been with SHIELD for as long as any agent could recall. Nearly everyone was certain he was one of the original recruits, but it never mattered. The old man was someone everyone liked.

She frowned slightly and heaved a sigh. "Ready as I'll ever be." Little didn't really enjoy the therapy sessions.

The next hour was, in her opinion, wasted on silly things like bending and stretching her leg, kicking balls of various weights, and putting minimal weight on her left leg unaided by the brace. Gordon mentioned that once her right leg was free of the cast and in a brace she would be able to do more along the lines of putting full weight on both legs and really working out her knee. Little constantly prayed for the hour to tick by faster, but it never did. She would swear up and down the clock in the room was broken seeing as how when she counted in her head five minutes would go by, but the clock only showed two having passed. A growl emitted from her chest made her emotions clear to the older man.

Gordon sat back and gave her a look. "Little, why do you fight this so much? Every day you've managed to come in here with a grimace. Can't I get just one smile?"

She let out a breath. "I just don't like this…I feel like this time is being wasted."

"Why? This hour is spent strengthening your knee so that you can get back into the field sooner. Why, within the next three or four months you could be back on missions. Now, wipe that grimace off your face." He pointed a finger at her nose. "And give me a smile, darn it!"

She crossed her arms as best she the brace would allow. "No. I'm not smiling."

"C'mon, give an ol' man a smile. I know you've got a pretty one. I've seen yah smilin' at Agent Barton, can't yah give this fella a smile too?"

Her cheeks darkened. It was true that their relationship wasn't really a secret, but that didn't mean she wouldn't blush when someone referenced it. It had been many a moon since her last relationship so it was almost like the first time. "That's a totally different matter, Gordon! I'm not going to smile."

He pouted.

Little tried her best not to smile, but it didn't work. The sight of the old man pouting like he did was just enough to make her laugh and cause a smile to spread across her face.

Gordon clapped. "There! Now, your hour is up. I'll see you again tomorrow." He helped her back into her chair and watched her go. Before she could make it to the door, however, he called out. "Agent Little!"

She turned her head to look over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"With a smile."

She just chuckled and rolled on out of the room and made her way to the lab. That was the only place she didn't feel completely useless and in the way. There she could chat with Stark and Banner, keep them company, or just sit back and watch them do their thing. She still had absolutely no idea what they were talking about half of the time. She was a field agent, not a techie. As she rolled into the lab that afternoon she was greeted by a very enthusiastic Stark.

"Fifi! Glad you're here. I was just about to call everyone down. Remember that surprise I was telling you about?"

She rolled her eyes a little. "The one I wasn't allowed to know about?"

He beamed a smile. "Yeah, that one! Well, I'll let you in on it before the others get here. Which reminds me, Banner, mind calling all the guys down? Well, the other three, anyway? Or go get them? Something!" As the scientist gave a sigh and left the lab, Stark turned back to Little. "So, what kind of furniture style do you like? Color for curtains? How about your bedspread?"

She shook her head in confusion. "Woah, back up, what?"

He smiled. "All of the repairs have been made on the Stark Tower, plus a few new renovations." He set a pad down and pulled up a 3D hologram of the Tower. "You see these top three floors? Those are ours now. I bumped R&D down a bit to accommodate."

She smirked. "Look at you using big words!"

"Shut up! Anyway, this bottom floor is going to be a sort of rec room. A place to just sorta hang out. Nothing builds team morale like a good game of ping pong, right?"

She huffed. "If you're good at it…"

Stark chuckled and continued with the virtual explanation. "Now, this second floor has the kitchen, two bathrooms, a sitting room, a living room, and this room over here," he pointed to a small-ish room in the corner of the floor, "is the library. I've met with Pepper a couple times and she told me that some of you guys might be into that or that the captain would want to catch up on recent literature."

Little gave a small smile. "I like books."

"Great! Now, the top floor is where the rooms are located. There are eight rooms, just because I got a little anal and had to have an even number. One for each Avenger and then a spare, should it ever be necessary. Each room has it's own bathroom that you'll also get to decide on the color scheme and whatnot. Right, the very top floor of the Tower is still my penthouse, but I know enforcing you all _not _to go there will be pointless since half of you never listen to me anyway."

To emphasize the point, she sarcastically drawled, "Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Oh, haha, very funny, Fifi. Just for that you don't get to go to the park!"

She gave a sniff. "It's my park, I'll go whenever I feel like it."

He was about to fire back with a usual snarky remark when the door slid open. Banner walked in, followed by the two SHIELD agents and the captain.

Stark smiled and clapped his hands together. "Great! We're all here! Now, I'm certain you're wondering why I've brought you here toda—"

Barton, who was leaning against the counter next to where Little was parked, rolled his eyes. "Just get on with it, Stark."

"Fifi…He interrupted me…"

She chuckled and just gave the hand that was on her shoulder a pat. "Good boy, Clint."

Stark frowned. "_Anyway! _I've brought you here because I'm going to show you the new Stark Tower, complete with Avenger-ready living spaces!"

Rogers' brows came together. "What?"

He grinned. "Mmhmm! We're all gunna get nice and cozy and live together. Here, let me show you…"

Little stopped paying attention seeing as how she already knew what he was explaining to the others. Instead she began to contemplate what kind of décor she would want in her bedroom. _Hmm…Something modern, but nothing too stylish. Conservatively modern! That'll work. In…oh! Cherry wood furniture with black accents! That would look lovely…_

"Little?"

_And black sheets…_

"Fifi?"

_Black curtains with red ties to hold them back…_

"Kaleigh?"

_Could I ask for carpeting? I do hope so! _

"Uh…Jo?"

_And for the bathroom, blue! Blue curtain, blue rugs, blue everything! With silver trim! Totally different from my room._

"_Little!_"

Her head snapped to attention when the full force of five voices hollered her name. She blinked at them all. "What?"

Stark raised a brow. "You sure you're not still in a coma or whatever? You were off in LaLa Land for a while there."

She shrugged. "I stopped paying attention. So, when do we get to move in?"

He nodded. "Good question! Everyone, if you would check your tablets I've sent out a message containing the form I need you to fill out. Once done, e-mail it back to me so I can tell the workers what to do for each room. So bust out your inner gay interior designer and have at it! Alright? If everyone gets theirs back to me in good time we can get off this boat and back in the city by the end of next month!" It was nearing the end of September.

Rogers cleared his throat. "Um…What?"

Stark grinned. "No worries, I've got this for you!" He handed the man a couple sheets of paper stapled together. "It's the same thing they got, but in paper form since I know you're not all that tech savvy, which I thought Romanoff was getting to?"

The redhead gave a nod. "We're getting there, these things take time."

With that the spy and the soldier left together to fill out their forms together in. Rogers couldn't help but feel like a bit of a hindrance since he wasn't as 'tech savvy' (as Stark put it). Hopefully he and Romanoff would get to the higher forms of technology soon. They had mastered kitchen appliances, laundry, television, and they were working on cell phones. Perhaps they should have started with computers, instead…

Little reached under her chair where she kept her tablet and opened up the message with a happy grin. "Oh, Stark, you've made me a very happy woman."

The three sets of male eyes fell on her with curious looks.

She looked at them all and gave a sheepish little shrug and mumbled her explanation. "Every girl likes to plan her perfect house…I suppose planning my own room will be just as good…"

Barton chuckled and gave her a little wink. "Wanna come hang out with me? I'm not on duty right now. You can help me plan my room because I'll be the first to admit I have no idea what I'm doing."

Little smiled at him. "I would, but I'm going to stay here and make sure Stark understands my descriptions."

"Hey! If it doesn't get done right the first time you can fix it!"

She stuck her tongue out at the billionaire. "If it doesn't get right the first time it'll never get done right!"

Barton's grin fell. "You're gunna stay here?"

"Yeah, I haven't been in here for a couple of days and I miss my guys." Trying to ease the tension she could feel rolling off of her, for lack of a better term, boyfriend, she gave a small smile. "Why don't you and I hit the mess tonight? Surely there has to be something a little more appetizing than their usual stuff. We can get some food and head to my room in the recovery ward or your quarters and have the most magnificent makeshift picnic you've ever seen. I'll help you with your room then."

He gave her a look, but finally agreed. He gave her a quick kiss before leaving the lab. As he walked away he could be seen looking over his shoulder one last time at Little as though to be certain she was still there.

Stark gave a low whistle. "Well, then, you've got a very jealous boyfriend. I mean, c'mon! I've got Pepper back home and Banner is just…well…_Banner_."

The response from the good doctor was a very sarcastically meaningful, "Yeah…Thanks…"

Little chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about him. Clint's just jealous that you two—Bruce especially—aren't being forced to call me Little. He doesn't like that there are other guys who have nicknames for me, you know? He hates that Bruce gets to call me Jo and, though he thinks it's funny, he doesn't like you calling me Fifi. He says it's degrading and I shouldn't tolerate it." She smirked. "I only tolerate it because I know that telling you not to call me that will make you permanently forget my real name. Isn't that right, Stark?"

The billionaire wiped a fake tear from his eye. "I'm so proud of her! She learns!"

Little just rolled her eyes and began tapping through Stark's special form on her tablet, explaining herself as she went. "Now, when I say cherry wood, I mean _cherry_ wood! As for the finish, something that really brings out the red in the wood. Don't try to play me, my nose will tell me the truth. That, or I'll just invite my sister over. She'll tell me whether or not it's the real deal. Also, by black accents I mean knobs and hinges." She looked up from the pad. "Can I get carpeting in my room?"

Stark nodded. "Sure, sure."

"Great! A very pale crème color, please. And make sure it's very soft and plush if you don't mind."

Banner just shook his head. Women and their demands…

Little's head snapped up and her topic of conversation did a total one-eighty. "Oh, Bruce! I was going to ask you something."

"Mmhmm?"

She smiled. "Seeing as how we'll be leaving the ship before I finish my physical therapy and whatnot, would you care to be my on-site physician at the Tower? I'll still have to return to the hospital on the SHIELD base in New York when it comes time for my surgery, but you could determine that, right?"

Banner's brows went into his hairline as he looked at Little. His eyes slid to Stark who gave him the same expectant look that the wheelchair-bound woman was giving him. He cleared his throat. "I, uh…Hmm…I think I could manage well enough. Sure, why not?"

Little clapped her hands together with a smile. "Thanks, Bruce." She turned an eye back to Stark. "Now, you make sure that you've got everything understood before you go readying my room." She waggled a finger in his direction. "If not, my first order of business once I can shift again is to enjoy a nice big Stark Steak, got it?"

The man gave her a shit-eating grin. "But of course, Fifi."

"Now, I've got a date with an archer, so you'll have to excuse me."

After she rolled out of the room Stark scoffed. "So much for missing her boys!" He looked across the room at a very stern looking Banner who was concentrating just a little too hard on the screen in front of him. "You alright?"

Banner just shook his head. "Barton's gunna kill me one of these days. He already hates that she spends so much time here in the first place. What else could possibly make this worse?"

"He found out that you've been sitting in _his _seat in Little's room."

The graying head popped up. "Which one is his?"

Stark raised a brow. "The one to her left."

Palm, meet Face. Face, this is Palm. "Yeah…He's gunna kill me."

The billionaire returned to his happy shit-eating grin and went back to the screen he was working on. "Probably."

**A/N Yay for getting off the helicarrier! Woot woot!**

**_~* Be on the look out for the next time I'm giving away a shout-out and a story choice to one lucky reviewer! Centinibron named a new character for being reviewer number 70! What could you get? *~_**

**Like it? Love it? Review it! Reviews just make me oh, so happy ^_^**


	19. Little Fire

**A/N So this chapter is a bit long, but my fingers sort of ran away on the keyboard! I hope you like it!**

**_~* 80th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will name whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! *~_**

**Chapter Nineteen: Little Fire**

_Click! Thud…Click! Thud…Click! Thud…Click! Thud…_

Barton smirked from where he was sitting in the mess and looked over his shoulder at the approaching form of Little on her crutches. A week had passed since she'd gotten her cast removed and now she was working hard on becoming as graceful as possible. Yeah, things weren't working out in her favor…For one, it was a little hard on her to put weight on both legs just yet as her knee would start to hurt or her leg couldn't keep up with the demands. Another issue was the brace on her arm made it difficult to grip the crutch. She was bound and determined, though, and no one was going to tell her otherwise. One thing that Barton certainly didn't mind was that she was no longer going around in those ridiculous black sundresses or being forced to wear hospital gowns. She was free to dress normally again! Fury, though, didn't want her in uniform again until she was taken off the Disabled List and that wouldn't be until after her last surgery. He smiled at her as she got closer. She was wearing a fitted dark blue and black tank top that was standard issue for training and a pair of tight, but maneuverable dark wash jeans. She had taken to wearing a black bandana over her curly mop. Her hair had grown another half of an inch in the past three weeks, but was now sticking up all around like a bad afro. Whenever he saw her without the bandana he couldn't help but take a jab at her. He was certain that he was the only person she tolerated the jokes from.

Little plopped down close to the edge on the bench next to him and gave him a smile. "Hey, Tasha said I'd find you here." She leaned her crutches against the table and rubbed her slightly aching knee. Gordon said she shouldn't push it and should rest as often as possible, but this was Little. She didn't like being told what _not_ to do.

He grinned. "Yes, because apparently I'm only ever at the range or eating."

She reached across and snatched up the apple on his tray and took a bite. After chewing and swallowing, she smirked. "Is she ever wrong?"

Barton just turned back to the fork-full of spaghetti with a grumble.

"Oh, come on. Hey! I was in the lab the other day and Stark said the Tower should be ready any day now for us!" She leaned on the table and took another bite of apple. In a very unladylike move, she spoke through a mouthful of fruit. "You know, I'm gunna be _real_ glad to get off this ship." Chew, chew, chew. "I mean, usually I have no problem, but I'm gettin' sick of Markson." Swallow.

He shook his head at her and just chuckled. "Don't I know it? No offense, but you kinda complain about him a lot."

She shrugged. "I know I do. I'm hoping rumors that I wanna kill him get back to him so that he'll leave me the hell alone sometimes." After another bite of the apple she gave him a squirrel-cheeked grin.

Barton could do little more than just shake his head in amusement. This was the Little _he_ knew. She was a spitfire, snarky, and sarcastic. Yet, somehow she managed not to be annoying…or maybe he just didn't find _her _annoying. Either way, he liked it.

"Well, it's almost two so I've gotta head back to the infirmary to see Gordon for physical therapy." Once she had been freed from the cast she had been freed from the infirmary as well. She was back in her personal quarters, but still not working. They way Fury explained it was that she _would _have been sent home to wherever she actually lived and dealt with a physician at the nearest SHIELD base, but she didn't have anywhere else to go. Her address _was_ the helicarrier.

"I'll see you later, then?"

She smiled. "Definitely." Her eyes darted around the mess hall. Despite it being lunch time it was emptier than usual. She had, perhaps, just missed the afternoon rush. However, this did make things easier on her. With a smile she leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to Barton's lips. In the past few weeks since her initial freedom was gained their relationship had simmered down drastically. When she was bedridden they had no problem sharing kisses since it was in a private area. Now, however, kisses were stolen while passing in the halls or, like then, when few people were around to make a note of it. Hill had already talked to them (separately, of course) once about public displays of affection and how they didn't belong in the workforce. Both agents just sort of rolled their eyes at her back, though. Fury had told them that so long as their budding relationship didn't interfere with work than there was no problem.

When she pulled back from the kiss, Little was grinning from ear to ear. "It never gets old."

Barton returned the smile and nodded her off. "Go on, you, before you're late. Gordon may be a nice guy, but you know what happens to late comers."

Little gasped and scrambled to get to her feet. "Oh, no! What ever will I do should I be late? Oh, please, Mr. Archer, don't let him kill me!"

Her laugh filled the mess as she hobbled as quickly as she could out through the doors feeling a soft _thunk! _on her back, telling her that Barton's roll had been turned into a missile.

The smile on her face didn't fade as she entered the room filled with various objects and machines to aid those in recovery. "Oh, Gordon! I'm here!"

Like always he rolled out from around the corner in his wheeled office chair with that toothy grin on his face. "Afternoon, Agent Little." As he approached her he noticed her happy smile. "A good day so far?"

She nodded and the few curls that peeked out from beneath the front of her bandana bounced on her forehead. "A very good day so far. Sadly, I must tell you that soon I'll be leaving the helicarrier. Stark says the Tower should be ready for us any day now."

"Well, I'll miss yah, Little. I've seen you every day for some time now and I've gotten used to it." He gave her a smile. "Now, put those crutches aside and let's get started."

Little set her crutches down and they began her daily therapy. Each day it got just a little more intense. She would walk a little farther, bend a little longer, or kick a little harder. Her legs were skinnier than they used to be from lack of use, but Little was determined to get them back to their toned shape soon enough.

Just as their daily hour was drawing to a close an announcement came on over the PA system.

_"Avengers to the Ready Room."_

Little smiled as she picked up her crutches. "That's me, Gordon. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

The old man gave her a kind smile and her cheek a small pat as though she was his granddaughter, but he treated everyone like that. "You just be sure to come see me before you leave, got it, Missy?"

She gave him a big smile as she made for the door. "Got it." Little hurried as fast as she could manage on her crutches without falling out of the infirmary and towards the Ready Room. She pressed her thumb to the panel and click-thudded into the room as the last one to make it. She grinned sheepishly. Every knew to expect her to be the last one, but that didn't mean it wasn't just a little embarrassing.

Fury was standing at the head of the table, ignoring the slight clatter as her crutches threatened to hit the floor before being caught by Rogers. "Alright, Stark says that the Tower in New York is ready for you all to move in. There are rules and boundaries. First and foremost, you are still our number one response team should anything happen. Go about your daily lives but maintain the ability to head into anything at the drop of a hat. Barton, Romanoff, Little, you three are still SHIELD agents and will be contacted should your skills are necessary for a mission. Other than that, all I will say is that you retain some decent composure. Now, I'll turn this over to Stark."

The swarthy man leapt to his feet with a grin on his face. "Thank you for the fantastic introduction, Nick." He turned a smiled to the group sitting at the table as he brought up the same hologram he had used to show them the new renovations in the first place. "Alright, room assignments. No bitchin', got it?" He knocked away the bottom part of the tower and zoomed in on the level where their rooms were. "Alrighty then! The rooms are situated four to a side. I made certain that the elevator was on the other, far end of the floor just in case any of you babies are light sleepers." There was a sarcastic remark or two that he ignored. "So, on the south side we've got Barton, Romanoff, Thor—should he ever visit—and then the spare room at the end of the hall. The north side is me, Rogers, Little, then Bann—"

"Woah, woah, woah! Wait! I'm next to Rogers? Why?"

Stark set her with a look. "Someone spent more time thinking about what her room will look like than who she'd be rooming next to. There was a portion on the pages you left out, Fifi."

Little sank into her seat, grumbling darkly. The only perk was that she'd be rooming next to Banner.

"Now, my room on this floor probably won't be used all that often since the penthouse is a level above this. That doesn't mean you can go using my room. It's still _mine_."

Barton, who was sitting beside Little, leaned forward and whispered. "Like a three year old in a sand box."

She tried to stifle the snort of a laugh.

Rogers set Stark with a curious glance. "So, this floor is _only _bedrooms?"

The man nodded with pride. "Yes! Large, glorious bedrooms with wide windows and personal bathrooms the size of small apartments!"

Romanoff rolled her eyes. "Always one for theatrics…"

He smiled. "Also, as an added bonus, everyone will be on the receiving end of a gift from yours truly that should be able to alleviate the pressure of living with everyone else. Admit it, we kick ass on the field, but we but heads everywhere else."

There was a muttered response of "Amen," "You got that right," and the ever sarcastic "Obviously."

Fury stood. "Right, you guys leave tomorrow. Get your things together. Anything that doesn't fit in the usual foot locker will be sent over. You leave at o-nine-hundred tomorrow morning. You're dismissed."

Barton helped Little to her feet and handed her the crutches while everyone else made for their quarters to pack whatever was necessary. He smiled at her as he walked and she gimped through the halls. "You and Rogers don't get along very well, huh?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. He just rubs me wrong, I guess…So, excited about everyone living together? I'm just hoping Stark's gift isn't something ridiculous or perverted."

They laughed and began to think of the absolute worse things that Stark could think of to give them all as gifts. Little had no issue ragging on how hilarious Rogers' face would look should these gifts be naughty toys. It would be perfectly priceless! She only wished she could get a picture should that be the case!

After Little made it to her quarters and packed her trunk, which was pretty empty even when everything of hers was in it. She didn't have much, just two pairs of boots, a pair of sneakers, two uniforms, and enough civilian clothes to last her two weeks between laundry days. Aside from that she had a few novels, her tablet, and some personal hygiene, hair care, and makeup products. The trunk was only about half-full when she was done. She was about to walk out the door when she remembered one more thing. Kneeling down tenderly, she lifted the mattress and pulled out an old, faded, and worn photograph. She kissed its image and put it on top of her belongings. Four faces stared up from the picture. A petite woman with pin straight black hair stood beside a tall man with a mop of curly brown hair. To each side was a young woman, mid to late teens at best, with long curly black hair. The only difference between the girls was their clothes. The family smiled at the camera with the front gate to the school for gifted youngsters behind them. It was the last picture of all four of the Little family members together before Joseph Little died in a train wreck.

Ignoring the sudden rush of emotions brought forth from seeing the picture for the first time since she had placed it there upon her arrival at SHIELD six years before, Little slammed the lid to her trunk shut and got to her feet as ungainly as any newborn foal. Once she had her crutches in hand she hobbled out and made her way to the infirmary. She had promised Gordon she'd say goodbye and she wouldn't go back on that promise.

Their goodbyes were heartfelt and almost teary on Little's end. She had been seeing him daily after about the second week after waking up. That was a long time to be around someone and then realize that tomorrow at two o'clock sharp they wouldn't be there.

Nine in the morning rolled around faster that Little cared to admit. She had enlisted Barton to help her move her trunk seeing as how she was far from able. The six Avengers on the ship were gathered on the deck as agents bustled around doing their jobs. A quinjet was waiting for them with the back hatch opened. Romanoff, Barton, and Little had their trunks stacked in the back along with Rogers' duffel and Banner's worn pack. As they all piled in Little took the seat next to Barton. To her other side was Banner, a fact the archer didn't appreciate. The others sat across from them

Before everyone got settled, Stark stood and looked at them all. "Now, before this fun trip home let me set some ground rules. No bitching, no bickering, and absolutely no," she pointed at the archer and mutant, "making out. Understood?"

Romanoff waved him off. "Just sit down so we can get there, alright?"

A bit miffed, the man sat down and crossed his arms while mentally nursing his bruised ego.

The jet fired up and left the deck of the helicarrier. Little closed her eyes and relaxed against Barton's side. The hum of the engines and the sound of air whooshing past mixed with the surprisingly silent Avengers was just enough…to…

Her eyes opened with a jolt as a ripple passed through the jet. Little stretched and rubbed her eyes, wondering what had caused the turbulence. However, when she looked around she saw that everyone was departing. _Oh…_She thought as she realized she had fallen asleep.

"Mornin', Sleepy Head."

Looking up she saw the grinning face of Barton standing over her with a hand held out to help her to her feet. "When did I fall asleep?"

He chuckled as he handed her the crutches. "Almost instantly. C'mon, Stark is about to show us to our rooms."

Little and Barton were the last to walk in through the glass doors on the same path Loki once took. She had never seen the damage done to the Tower aside from the couple mental images of some broken windows. Everyone else knew that the renovations and repairs had done wonders to the building's appearance.

Stark beamed as though he were introducing his beloved child to the world. "Ladies and gentlemen, your new home. Pepper will be joining us tomorrow. She's on business in DC. Now, everyone, say hello to Jarvis."

_"Welcome, Avengers, to the Stark Tower."_

Little looked around and gave a low whistle of appreciation. "Nice place. Definitely cooler than the mansion so far. I'm diggin' the British AI."

_"Thank you, Agent Little."_

She could have squirmed with delight that it knew who she was.

Stark chuckled. "Alright, everyone in the elevator. It'll be a tight fit, but we'll only be in it a short while."

As everyone crammed into the elevator, leaving little to no elbow room for anyone, they made their quick decent down one floor. Stark had lied just a bit. The elevator opened into a simple sitting room with two couches, a large over-stuffed chair, and a loveseat that surrounded a neat, stylish coffee table.

He held his arms wide for all to see. "Your new home! Do you all remember which rooms are yours? If not, don't worry, because for now you all have signs on your doors with your names. Oh! And your gifts will be waiting in your rooms for you. Now, off you go." He plopped down on his seat and watched as they wandered down the wide hall towards their rooms.

Stark felt quite smug at the gasps coming from each person. He smiled as he lounged and thought about each room and gift individually. Barton's room was only as nice as it was because of the help he had gotten from Little. His room was done in oak with blue sheets with black curtains and blue and black area rugs covering a few places on the floor. His gift was brand new archery equipment and the means to get more trick arrow heads. Next was Romanoff's room. It was simple, modern, and actually quite stylish. Everything was in dark woods and black metal with white curtains and bed linens. Her gift was an all access pass to the firing range and weapons arsenal fifteen floors below. Beside her was Thor's room, which Stark had no idea about so he told the designer to go as medieval as possible on the room. He didn't even know what it looked like! Now, the spare room was done in beige with white and red accents. That was Pepper's doing. Directly across the hall was Banner's room which was as plain and as boring as possible with simple wood furniture and basic red sheets. His gift was an entire floor of the R&D levels that Banner could use all by himself or with the aide of any Stark Industries employees. Down the hall was Rogers' room. His room was done completely with antique looking furniture that would make the man feel like he was back in the forties. His gift was a collection of every noteworthy movie made from the time he froze to today (including _The_ _Wizard_ _of_ _Oz_). His room wasn't necessary to think about. The only way to describe it was that the room was very…him. Lastly, he brought up Little's room. Yeesh, her room had been the hardest to do what with all of her tiny demands, but he had done it! He had managed to fulfill every one of her demands. A smirk passed his face. About her gift…

Right on cue.

"Holy _shit!_"

Thunderous rumbling occurred as everyone rushed to Little's door. Stark pushed himself up and shoved his hands in his pockets with a wry smirk on his face. Everyone had made it into Little's room where she came walking out of her personal bathroom. A collective gasp sounded through the group.

Little was clutching a small, fluffy little kitten to her chest. "Stark! You got me a _kitten!_"

He leaned against the doorway. "Well, think of it this way, she's the one thing in this entire building you can completely trust with a secret."

She held the kitten up so they were almost nose-to-nose. The kitten was a fluff ball, which was obvious. Her markings were the point coloration (think Siamese), only orange. Her eyes were a brilliant and pristine blue. Little smirked. "She's adorable. Did anyone else get a new friend?"

Heads shook in response.

Once the initial shock was over everyone left the mutant's room except for Barton. He plopped himself down on her bed and looked at the woman holding the kitten. "So, what're you gunna name her?"

Little looked at the kitten. "That's her choice, isn't it?" She narrowed her eyes. "Well, little one, what would you like to be called?"

The tiny creature mewed in response.

The woman smiled. "That I shall call you when I am also a cat." Another mew. "Yes, I can be a cat, too! Sadly, it'll be a while. Anyway, how about…Hmm…Felix?"

Barton's brows came together. "For a girl?"

The kitten gave a short growl.

"Alright. Sunny?" She'd mewed a negative response. Blue eyes so… "Sapphire?" Growl. "Angel?" Another growl. Little looked the kitten over. Her orange markings were almost the color of fire at their boldest. She smiled. "Blaze?" Growl. "Pyra?" That got her a hiss. Little set the creature down. "Well, than why don't you spit out a few ideas?"

Barton watched the exchange between woman and cat with a strange look on his face. It wasn't every day you saw someone get into a legitimate argument with a cat. It was a truly laughable sight to behold.

The kitten batted at Little's legs and mewed long and loud.

The woman pursed her lips. "You're a little spitfire, aren't you?"

That was it!

She smiled. "A little fire, eh?" Kneeling down slowly, she scooped up the kitten. "How about Ember?"

The kitten's eyes slid shut and she began to purr her consent to the new name.

Little beamed a smile. "Ember it is!" Getting up she moved to sit beside Barton on the bed. "You know, I'd ask if you even liked cats, but you don't really have a choice seeing as how you're dating _me_."

He chuckled. "I guess not." He cautiously reached up a hand to stroke Ember's head. "I'll never name a pet the same way again."

The rest of the day was spent settling into their rooms and getting used to their new surroundings. Everyone got a show when they watched Little come hobbling down the hall with the kitten hot on her heels. They watched in curiosity as the woman turned and spoke to the kitten like she was a human. She told the kitten to stay put while she went downstairs to get something to drink. They were all surprised to see Ember sit on command and wait patiently for Little to return. Stark even tried to coax the kitten from her spot, but it didn't work. Ember just gave him a look before returning to staring at the elevators doors, waiting for her 'mother' to return from below.

At that moment it was agreed that Ember would quite possibly be the most well behaved cat any of them had ever known.

**A/N Ember was named by Centinibron and I positively love the name. You rock! Now, don't sell the kitten short just yet. She'll end up with a big role and purpose!**

**_~* 80th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will name whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! *~_**

**Like it? Love it? Review it!**


	20. Jealous Hearts

**A/N Halloooooo! Banner isn't the only one who turns green! Also, I do hope you don't mind my somewhat constant time-skips. You see, much of what happens during the unwritten time is just daily life, you know? **

**_~* 90th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will get a sneak-peek at whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! This means they'll get to read a juicy bit before the rest of you lot! *~_**

**Chapter Twenty: Jealous Hearts**

Little opened her eyes blearily and blinked at the curtains draped over the windows. By the amount of light spilling into the room below and above the drapes she could tell it was early to mid morning. There was a very dull pain in her left knee since she refused to wear her braces at night. Ignoring the slight annoyance, she turned to bury her face back into her comfortably squishy pillow. As she willed herself to sleep the thought back over the last week since they had all moved in. What a week! For the first few days everyone was bumping elbows and stepping on toes while trying to adjust to the living patterns of six people all at once. Pepper had arrived and that was a bright light in Little's mind. She was a nice woman who had a smile for everyone and still managed not to be driven insane by her narcissistic boyfriend. Pepper was a good soul. Little even learned that she was the mastermind behind Ember's presence. Stark denied this, naturally, but the proof was evident when Ember showed an open approval for the redhead while she would often hiss at the swarthier man. A smile came to the woman's face as she tilted her head down to spot Ember sleeping, curled up like a cotton ball, beside her knees. She would have continued to smile until a strange sight caught her eye. A hand was poking out from beneath the bedspread. Her brows came together as she brought her hands to her face. One had been beneath the pillow and the other had been draped over the edge of the bed. If those were hers…than whom did _that _hand belong to? Turning her head she saw another mystery hand (this one connected to an arm!) was poking out from beneath her neck! Carefully, she turned her head to see who the intruder was.

She would've laughed at herself had she not feared it would wake the person beside her.

Little snuggled back into the bed and started to play with the fingers on the hand beneath her neck. She thought back to the previous night, feeling silly for not remembering at first. She had retired to her room early to watch a movie before falling asleep. The opening credits had just begun to roll when a knock sounded at the door. Having already gotten comfortable she told whomever it was to enter at will. Barton walked in, claiming he wanted to talk to her about something or other. They never did get around to it. He noticed she was watching _The Sandlot_—a timeless classic—and asked if he could join her. After ditching his shoes he was allowed to crawl in beside her. Little remembered feeling really nervous for some reason, but it didn't last long mostly because she fell asleep shortly after he climbed in beside her.

She smiled to herself as she continued to play with his hand. Her nails trailed along the length of each finger. She made circles on his palm and drew lings along his wrist. A tiny giggle would escape her lips as his fingers or hand would twitch with different kinds of stimuli. She found that slightly prodding or scratching the center of his palm made his hand start to close.

A squeak of surprise left her as the hand suddenly grasped her and the arm draped over her waist tightened, pulling her closer to the body behind her.

"Stop it."

Little smirked. His voice was quiet and husky early in the morning. She liked it. "Why?"

"Because I'm trying to sleep an' you're makin' it hard…"

She closed her eyes and smiled as he buried his face into the side of her neck. Bending her head slightly she pressed a light kiss to the fingers wrapped around her hand. As much as she didn't want to actually admit it, she had to. This was the first time in her life that she had ever woken up in the same bed as a man. Hell, last night was the first night she'd ever even shared a bed with a man. When she and her ex-boyfriend Andrew decided to make the attempt it was in the bed of his truck and just that one time. The only other guy she'd ever been with was this human, Carson, she was seeing back when she lived at the mansion. Gosh, that had been an absolute fiasco. Their coupling had occurred in the kitchen of his apartment. He hadn't known she was a mutant until _after _that when she thought it would be alright to tell him. Turned out he was one of those anti-mutant protester types. Yeah, that didn't end well…Little forced herself to stop thinking about them and think about the man who was currently holding her in his arms. She would worry about such things at a later date…or perhaps just later in the day. Closing her eyes smiled happily and snuggled down.

"_Mew_!"

Twin groans sounded from the couple in bed as Ember stretched while waking. The kitten began to pounce and bounce over the bed, willing them to wake up and play with her. She got in her mama's face and licked Little's nose.

The woman frowned. "Go away, Ember, we're trying to sleep."

Defiant meow.

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady! I will have you kno—Ow!"

Ember had taken matters into her own paws and chomped down on her mama's nose.

Little shot upright and flicked the kitten lightly on the forehead. "No! No biting! That hurt Mama!"

Barton sat up beside her and watched as the woman and kitten seemed to argue over what time was the proper time to wake up and get going for the day. He smirked and reached around to pick up the kitten. Holding her close to his face he gave her a very stern look. "Ember."

She pawed his face.

He turned to Little. "Translate, would yah?" Turning back to the kitten, he began. "You listen to your mama, you here, and the only person who gets to bite her is me!"

Little turned a bright red as she informed her kitten what Barton was talking about. Though she spoke English just as he did, there was one different thing. Little had the power for animals to understand her spoken word and to understand their barks, meows, growls, trumpets, what have you. It was the one thing about her gift she just couldn't quite explain. The only way she could explain was to say that her ears heard the animals' noises but in her head it was like humans were talking to her. Ember had a sweet, high little girl's voice in her head. After translating, she gave Barton a smack on the arm before crawling out of bed. "That was _not _something you needed to tell Ember! She _is_ just a baby after all!"

He laughed. "Do you deny the truth?" Tossing the blankets off, he got up, stood behind her, and wrapped his arms around her midsection. The past week had been a heaven send for him. He was right down the hall from her and there were absolutely no restrictions on what they could and could not do. The only thing that they had to do was remain polite and acknowledge the fact that others lived in the same area as they did. That wasn't hard at all. In the past week he had learned more about her than he ever thought one could in so short a time. He now knew her favorite color was the same shade of red as the furniture in her room. Being cheesy wasn't something she enjoyed, but being cliché and romantic was something she craved. Just by trial and error he found that the one spot that when either tickled or kissed that would make her knees tremble and her heart race was exactly halfway between the side and back of her neck where neck met back and shoulder.

Little squirmed slightly in his arms and stepped away from him with a small limp. Going over to her dresser she grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. One of the first things she had done after moving in was buy more clothes. She had never needed a wide variety, but now she did. Oh, how her bank account cried. "No, I don't deny it. I'd just rather you watch your language and sexual references around my little girl." After changing—again showing no signs of modesty—she strode over to a chair she had requested be put in her room and plopped down. Her two braces were leaning up against the wall beside the chair, just waiting for her to put them to use. She continued to scold him as she put on the braces. "You see, Clint, I only hope that Ember will grow up into a fine, sophisticated young feline despite sharing the same address as Tony Stark."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I get it. So, in an attempt to change the subject and get you away from sounding like an overbearing mother, what are your plans for today?"

She laughed at him while strapping on her right brace. It was by far the most annoying thing she'd ever worn. There were two bars and straps that wrapped around her thigh, hinges at the knee, then into a fitted and movement-restricting boot. Once she no longer felt the need for her crutches she would be able to walk easily, if not ungainly, with the brace. "I'm gunna go get a bite to eat, spend some time down in the lab with Bruce, explore the Tower a bit more, pester you for a bit, and perhaps just relax and watch movies. I still can't do much, which is a bitch, by the way."

Had she not been concentrating on getting the straps of her brace to be the perfect tightness she wouldn't seen the quick glare that crossed Barton's face when she mentioned spending time in the lab. He didn't understand it! Sure, when she was bound to the wheelchair it was a way to pass time, but now she can get up and get going. Hell, if she wanted she could take to the streets of New York City and make a day of it…but no. No, she preferred to spend most of her days in the lab chattering away with Banner. She didn't even belong in a lab! They both knew she was no scientist, so why bother? It's not like she really understood half of what the man was doing. It all irked him to absolutely no end.

"Damn, I left my arm brace in the bathroom. Could you get it for me?"

He didn't say anything. All he did was walk over to the bathroom while giving a noncommittal "Hmm." He handed the brace to her and watched as she latched it on. Her wrist was encased in a brace similar to the one she had worn on her left hand, but it was extended. A bar and strap wrapped around her arm just below her elbow and two similar rings wrapped around her upper arm. "It's no wonder you refuse to sleep in those. They must be as uncomfortable as hell."

She snorted. "And a pain in the ass to boot. I slept in my leg braces once and they got stuck together." Standing, she reached for her crutches. As she set the top padded bars into the crooks of her underarms she vowed that within the next week or two she would rid herself of their menacing forms by throwing them off the balcony of Stark's penthouse. As she hobbled and he walked out of the room they continued to talk about the day ahead of them. Both of them noticed but neither commented when Ember leapt down from the bed to follow closely at her mama's heels. "Since you asked me, I'll ask you: What are you doing today, Clint?"

He shrugged. "Didn't have any plans, really. Train for a while, hang out, would you be interested in getting lunch?"

They went into Barton's room so that he could change seeing as how he had slept in the clothes from the previous day.

Little smiled. "I'd like there. Here at the Tower or actually out in the city?" She spoke the last words while looking out his window and to the city bustling about far below. She could still hear and see repairs being made, but the place was coming along quite nicely.

"I was thinking out. Just go out and _do _something, you know?"

She had sat down on the edge of the bed and was playing with Ember when his words stopped her. "Like…a date?"

He pulled his shirt off and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose."

Little raised a brow and watched him finished getting dressed. "Sounds great." Her voice trailed off slightly on the last word as she watched his back as he moved and reached about the room. It wasn't long before she found herself off in LaLa Land and they were just about to—

"Kaleigh?"

She blinked, snapping out of the trance. "Hmm?"

"I asked where you'd like to eat."

She just shrugged and got back on her crutches. "Oh, anywhere with edible food. Well, I'm gunna go find food than see if Banner is in his lab yet." She gave him a quick kiss before making her way to the door.

Barton called after her. "Noon?"

She was already in the hall, but he heard her call out the affirmative response of, "Noon!"

Little rode the elevator down a level to the large living space. Hobbling out of the elevator she made her way to the kitchen. Ember followed closely, but looked about with renewed curiosity. The kitten had been on this floor many times, but each visit there was a new sniff to sniff and a new thing to look at. It wasn't until Little told her she could play while she got her breakfast that the ball of fur started to use the room as her personal jungle gym and go on many glorious adventures all while Mama ate her breakfast.

Banner was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and sipping tea while reading the newspaper. A plate of toast sat beside him. He gave her a weak smile. "Mornin'."

She smiled as she dug around the cabinets for her box of poptarts. "Mornin', Bruce. Sleep well?" Her little cry of success was laughable as she removed herself from the depths of the cupboard with a silvery package in hand.

"Well enough." He took a sip of his tea. "Want a cup?"

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Not much of a tea drinker, sorry. I'll stick with my usual morning poptart and a glass of milk." After getting the glass and pouring herself a tall drink of the white elixir, she gave him a smile. "So whatcha workin' on today?"

He took a bite of toast before answering. "Stark wants me to look over his plans for the newest Ironman suit and see if he's missed anything or messed something up." He set the paper aside and watched her a moment as she sipped her milk. There was something going on behind her eyes and he just knew it. "You alright?"

Looking up she gave a little shrug. "I'm fine. Can I talk to you about something?"

A deer caught in headlights didn't look as wide-eyed and nervous as Banner did just then. "Uh…Yeah…Sure…"

She smiled. "Great, why don't we get to the lab where I won't have to worry about eavesdroppers."

"Right."

After they finished their rather meager breakfast the two headed over to the elevator. Before stepping in, Little called to Ember. Banner meant to ask her how the kitten was adjusting and how the whole talking-to-animals deal went, but decided to wait until later. She was the one that needed to talk, right?

They stopped off on the seventh level of R&D, also known as Banner's Floor, and made their way into the lab. Banner held the doors for Little and waited until she was settled in her usual spinny chair before prodding her for the topic of conversation. "Alright, what do you need to talk about?"

Little looked thoughtful for a moment as she contemplated on just how to word this without being too forward. At the same time she noticed how when it was just them, just Little and Banner, he didn't seem to stutter as much as when they were in a group. That made her smile. She liked knowing he was relaxed around her. Back to the matter at hand, though. She couldn't think of any possible way of saying it while still being gentle and easing into the topic. She settled with laying it all out on the table. "Alright, stop me if this gets to personal." She took a breath. "I have this sinking feeling that should my relationship with Clint become physical in the bedroom I'll be less than adequate and honestly just embarrass myself."

Banner's eyes were quite similar to the saucer his tea had been sitting on in the kitchen. "Woah, back up, _what_?"

She sighed. "I'm afraid I won't be good in the sack, to put it bluntly."

He nodded. "Very blunt. Well…ah…Why do you think this?" Yes, because the conversation couldn't get any more awkward. Banner mentally squared his shoulders and decided to tough it out. If she could come to him with a topic so extremely personal that must count for something, right?"

Another sigh. "I've only ever been with two guys and only once a piece. I mean, _you've_ probably had more sex than I have! No offense…"

He shrugged. "None taken, and you're right. Now, what makes you think this makes you inadequate?"

Little was chewing on her lips as Ember sat curled in her lap. She was stroking the kitten thoughtfully. "Well, both times happened a pretty long time ago. I was twenty-one the last time. It's been _eight _years, Bruce. _Eight years._ I honestly don't know about Barton, but I know it's been less that eight years for him which makes me worry. For God's sake, I'm twenty-nine and I'm about as inexperienced as a girl ten years younger than me!"

Banner nodded thoughtfully as he tried to figure out what to say. He tapped the tip of his pen to his lips as he looked her over. She was the picture of uneasiness, meaning her fears were real. He set the pen down. "Well, the most I can say is that you'll never know until it comes to that. Also, as your personal physician here at the Tower, I say you can't do anything _strenuous _until you are one-hundred percent healed. Understood?" _That should give her time to rid herself of these worries._

She mulled over his words and smiled. "Yeah, you're right." The happy smile on her face was payment enough. "Thanks, Bruce. I'm sorry if that was bit, well…much."

He shook his head. "Hey, I'm just the wall for you to bounce things off of, right?"

Her laugh bubbled happily through the quite lab. "Right."

The rest of the morning was spent chattering about this, that, and the other while Banner worked over Tony's schematics and some of his own personal work. Half of the time Banner became distracted by the flying ball of puff that was Ember as she tempted him into playing with her. Little would laugh and try her best to calm the kitten, but little Ember simply adored her Uncle Bruce.

Currently, the kitten was draped over the man's shoulder while he tapped on a screen and made some notes on paper. She couldn't help but marveling at all the pretty colors on the screen and how humans managed to make the sounds they spoke into symbols on paper. Each time he would bring his hand up to fix his glasses she would bat at it playfully, urging him to play instead of work. Playing was so much more fun! She began playing with his ear, knocking his glasses off in the process, and making him say something sharply to Mama.

Uh, oh…Mama wasn't pleased.

"Ember, get over here."

The kitten sheepishly jumped down from Bruce's shoulder and made her way to her Mama's lap where she tried her best to look cute and cuddly, knowing that was Mama's weakness.

Instead, she got a stern talk. "Now, Missy, I let you come with me because you're not supposed to get in the way and be a bother. You need to give Bruce more space to work. Understood? If he wanted to play he would ask you to play."

Bruce said something softly.

Ember looked at her paws and mewed the cat way of saying, "Yes, Mama." She mused as to why she could understand Mama's human speech, but not Clint's or Bruce's. It was odd, really.

From that point on she tried to behave herself, she really did, but temptation was pressing at her, poking her sides and pulling her tail. She did her very best to ignore it and sit nicely in Mama's lap, only giving in to play with stray strands from the woman's clothes.

Noon rolled around and those in the lab had lost track of time completely. They were far too busy chatting, working, and occasionally stopping to play with Ember. It was during one of these bouts of play that the elevator door slid open just outside the entrance to the lab. Barton stepped out in the hopes of finding Little. They had agreed on noon and he thought she might meet him in the tops levels of the building. When she didn't, however, he went to find her. It was no surprise that the first place he looked would be the last. He was about to put his hand on the pad to enter when he noticed how happy she looked. Little was sprawled on the floor, playing with little Ember, while a rather amused looking Doctor Banner watched on. He frowned deeply at the sight. Had she even remembered they were to have a date of sorts? Somehow, he doubted it. Instead of walking in and announcing his presence so that they might leave, Barton turned on his heel and went right back into the elevator.

"Jarvis?"

_"Yes, Agent Barton?"_

"How long has Little been in the lab?"

_"Since earlier this morning, Sir, after getting her breakfast."_

That rubbed him wrong. "Let me know when she decides to leave, will yah?"

_"Of course. Should I inform Agent Little that you are in a mood?"_

He could've punched the AI had it been more than a voice. "No. Thank you, Jarvis."

_"Of course, Sir."_

Pressing the button for the Suite Floor, he impatiently waited until the elevator came to a stop. Once there he wasted no time in going to his room to retrieve is bow and quiver. He needed to blow off some steam and there was one place he knew would do the trick. When he got back in the elevator he pressed the proper button. The Tower really did seem to have everything, especially after the attack and Stark's remodeling.

Barton breathed a little easier once in the range. It was always the one place he could relaxed despite how many other people might be working on their aiming skills. He was lucky, though, as the place seemed rather empty. There were some gunshots from a booth further down the line, but that didn't matter. He stepped into his usual booth and set up the life-sized human decoy target. Yeah, this would do the trick! He began to loose arrow after arrow, giving little time between each one. It was a good test of his quick-fire aiming.

"You seem pissed."

Barton loosed an arrow that buried itself where a man's family jewels usually sat. "Don't know what you're talkin' about, Tasha."

"Don't bullshit me, Clint. I know you. What's up?"

With a _thwang! _the arrow flew through the air and got the target between the eyes. "Nothin'."

The redhead, who was leaning casually against the wall, raised a brow. "Don't make me ask again."

For half a second Barton mused that should any man ever be able to tame the Black Widow for good and ever she would make a very intimidating wife and mother. Pushing the thought away, he set his bow aside. "I don't like Kaleigh spending so much time with Banner."

"Do you question her loyalty?"

"No…Maybe…No, definitely no." He walked the lane to retrieve his arrows. "I just don't see the point in it all."

Romanoff's brows came together. "Barton, who's your closest friend?"

He turned a confused eye on her, but shrugged. "You."

"Do you see Little getting jealous over you having a close friend who's of the opposite sex? Hmm?"

"I'm not jealous! I'm—"

"Full of shit. Now, stop being all pissy and get over it." With that she tossed her bag over her shoulder and walked away.

Barton watched her got before firing off another arrow. She had a point; he was being unfair about this. _Thwang! _But then again he and Romanoff had been friends long before they were ever an item. _Thwang! _And by that logic it was understandable that Little wouldn't be jealous, whereas he could be jealous since the friendship between Little and Banner formed around the same time as their own relationship. _Thwang! _This meant that he was actually being perfectly rational. _Thwang! _So, Barton decided that should it ever get to the point of just being ridiculous he would bring it up to Little and they would deal with it. _Thwang! _Logical enough, right? _Thwang! _

He stopped firing and looked at the target for the first time with actually focused eyes. Was it a bad sign that his arrows had all found their marks in the dummy's head? He decided he'd ignore that for now and instead he gathered his things. Barton made up his mind. He would put his weapon up and return to the lab. There he would pull Little away from her friend, as horrid as that might sound, so that they could fulfill their plans for lunch.

**A/N A very jealous Barton, indeed! I hope you all liked this chapter!**

**_~* 90th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will get a sneak-peek at whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! This means they'll get to read a juicy bit before the rest of you lot! *~_**

**Like it? Love it? Review it! **


	21. Memories

**A/N What? Whole entire days between updates! How absurd! Well, I was once again in a battle against Social Life, but I lost Friday and Saturday night. Had dinner, saw Magic Mike (for those readers over 18 I definitely recommend it if you like half naked sexy men!) and just had a girls' night out. Then Saturday I began working on this chapter, but ending up going out again. I know, right? Unnatural!**

**I don't own Braveheart.**

**_~* 90th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will get a sneak-peek at whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! This means they'll get to read a juicy bit before the rest of you lot! *~_**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Memories **

Much to Barton's surprise, Little was more than willing to leave the lab with him. In fact, she was surprised he hadn't shown up earlier when she realized what time it was. She apologized for not keeping track of time herself and excused his explanation that he, too, had lost track of time while at the range. Alright…so that was partly the truth. The couple had to make a quick stop off at Little's room so she could grab some shoes before leaving. It was a strange thing about her that Barton's noticed. Unless it was absolutely, one-hundred percent necessary Little abhorred the idea of wearing shoes. Back at SHIELD it was mandatory, so there was no question, but at the Tower she was no longer restricted by the rules. He waited for her in the cozy sitting area of the floor, lounging casually across one of the loveseats with one leg tossed over the arm and the other falling to the floor. He was just getting comfortable when he heard someone walking up followed by a light snicker.

"Well, if you're so cozy perhaps lunch is out of the question?"

Tilting his head back and to the right he spotted Little standing just a few feet away with a brow raised and a smirk on her lips. He sat upright and grinned at her. "I just knew it would take you forever to pick out what shoes to wear since you have oh, so many pairs. What is it now, two or three hundred?"

Giving into her occasional childish ways, Little stuck her tongue out at the man. "Shush, yo—"

She was interrupted by a loud mew and something pawing at her left ankle.

Looking down she smiled slightly. "Yes, my darling?"

Ember looked up at her with big blue eyes and stood on her hind legs with her fore paws on her mama's leg. She mewed again and kept her pose as she waited fer her answer.

Barton looked at the raven haired woman with a look of curiosity. "What'd she say?"

As gently as possible, Little knelt on the floor beside the kitten. "Clint and I are going out to lunch. You stay here. If you need anything go into the elevator and down to the lab where Bruce is." She stopped here and looked up at the ceiling as though the AI was there. "Jarvis, should Ember need help can I trust you to get her to the lab safely?"

"_Of course, Agent Little, I would be more than happy to assist Little Ember."_

She smiled. "Great." Turning back to the kitten, she gave her a stern look. "If you go down there you won't bother him, will you?"

Ember sat back and mewed a quick response.

Little picked her up and kissed her on the forehead. "That's my girl. Now, you behave. Don't go bothering anyone, alright? Now, go and play."

"_Pardon this, Ma'am, but I will never comprehend just how Miss Potts convinced Mister Stark in allowing a pet. It's very unusual for him."_

Little just smiled and watched as the kitten bounced away down the hall to Little's bedroom where the tinkling of toys with bells could be heard. Ah, what a simple life it was to lead as a kitten.

The woman held out a hand with a small smile. "Help?"

Barton grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet, making sure there was very little room between them. It was then he noticed she had left her crutches in her room. "Where are your crutches?"

She smiled. "I'm leaving them behind for now. Anyway, if I need some help I can always just lean on you." There was a sultry little smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth and a devilish gleam in her eye.

His grin matched hers. "Anytime, babe."

Little pushed away a bit and wrinkled her nose at his comment. "Please don't call me that." There was still a smile on her face, so he hadn't entirely upset her.

As his right hand took her left they made their way out of the Tower and began walking the streets of Manhattan. Much of the reconstruction was finished, though there were still many traffic cones and empty lots where buildings once stood. Little looked around with a slight frown. It was sad to think that though they had stopped the invasion they hadn't been able to stop the horrifying amount of destruction. Hell, they had caused much of it themselves. They turned a corner and found themselves outside of a little coffee house that was mostly empty save a few the regular type customers. Without even asking or hinting that this would be the place Little grabbed Barton and pulled him in. Half of her meaning was because she had seen the most delicious looking bread slices on display. It wouldn't be much of a lunch, but delectable breads and scrumptious pastries could not be denied! They took their food outside to enjoy the nice day. It was just over sixty degrees and the sun was shining down as though there was a smile on its face.

Little smiled happily as she bit into a slice of moist zucchini bread. Looking up she watched as a small flock of birds flew above the buildings and noisy streets. How she longed to join them… "Do you ever wish you could fly, Clint?" She turned a smile on him that was so soft and gentle as though she already knew his answer.

Before answering Barton took a sip of his coffee—black with a small shot of creamer—and nodded. "Doesn't everyone?"

She smiled and played with her napkin. "It really is the freest of sensations. I mean, to be able to soar without needed planes, jet packs, wires, or a parachute is amazing. I can't wait until I until I do it again."

"How much longer will that be, anyway?"

Her shoulders rose and fell and a brief shrug. "Another month or so. Bruce says I'm doing well as far as being able to walk around and what kind of force I can exert. He's positive I'll be metal free before Thanksgiving at the latest."

A small hint of jealousy tried to poke its way into Barton's thoughts, but he was able to dismiss it with logic when remembering that Banner was her on-site physician of sorts. Instead, he gave her a happy smile. "That's great."

They sat in a comfortable silence and enjoyed their coffee and tasty treats while watching the city pass them by. A woman happened by. She was one of those common women with her hair in a quickly done ponytail who wore jeans and old ragged sneakers. She was smiling, though, and talking ecstatically to a little girl who was holding her hand. The child couldn't have been any older than five or six. They both had the same honey blonde shade of hair and if one were to look they would see that they both had the same nose and smile. The woman and child were making their way to a special shop to buy something for Grandma.

Barton watched Little's face as this woman and her daughter walked by. There was a sort of painfully wistful look that flashed through her eyes before she turned her attention back to a third slice of the dark bread. He reached over and took her hand. "Are you alright?"

Her eyes stayed downcast. "I know how old I am and I know a lot about my past…but I don't remember being any younger than seven years old. I mean, I have clips and images, but nothing that I can honestly say happened before then." She took a drink of the now cooling coffee.

He watched her and felt a wave of sympathy. She had been so happy as she longed to be part of the birds again, but now she was downtrodden. He gave her fingers a squeeze. "Hey, you'll remember it all eventually, or at least most of it. You've remembered the fight with your sister and my middle name. It's not much, but it's definitely a start."

She smiled sadly. "It's different, though. When I think about it there is something from every single year in my life that I don't remember. I don't remember Thanksgiving any earlier than thirteen because that was the first year we had to celebrate without my grandmother. I don't remember what my prom dress looked like my junior year, but I know I went. I still have no idea what you mean by a yellow and black hat that Kileigh supposedly had as a kid. It's hard to determine what's forgotten because of my fall and what's forgotten because of time because I can't even remember what I had already forgotten about…does that make any sense?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Look, it'll come back eventually. In the mean time, just try and think about what you _do _remember instead of worrying about what you've forgotten, alright?" A smile spread over his face. "You say you can't remember anything before your seventh birthday, well, what did you get that year?"

Little laughed as she played with a crumb. "Harley. Kileigh and I had wanted a puppy for so long. I remember waking up that morning because this little Golden Retriever puppy was licking my face. At first I pushed him off of bed, but then I realized what was going on and screamed with delight. Kileigh woke up thinking someone was in the house, but then she saw him. I remember laughing at her because when she went to play with him he bit her finger. Right off Harley loved me more, but I guess it was because he knew that someday we would actually understand each other." This brought on another laugh. "Oh! I remember the first time I ever realized I could understand him! He came into the room and was whining and yipping because he needed to go out. In my head I was hearing this guy saying 'Sister Kaleigh, I really need to go out! Please hurry!'"

"Sister Kaleigh?"

She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, that's all he ever called me. No matter how old I was he always called me Sister Kaleigh, but he never called Kileigh 'Sister.' When I told her that she got mighty jealous."

Barton laughed as he snatched up the last slice of bread before she could devour it as she had with the other four they had purchased. A man has to eat, right? "What ever happened to Harley?"

With a sigh, Little leaned back. "We were best friends until Kileigh and I left. I didn't get to see him that often—once or twice a year maybe—and it tried us both. The last time I saw him for a while was at my dad's funeral, then nothing for a couple years while I was on probation and trying to get back into everyone's good graces. He was getting old, too. I vaguely remember a short visit I paid to my mother a year or two after I joined the force," she always made sure to refer to SHIELD as 'the force' because one never knows who may be listening, "and he was getting pretty frail. The last time I talked to my mom was a year later when she called me to tell me he had died." She frowned. "Two days later I was sent out and that was one of the few times things didn't go the way they were supposed to. I slipped up because I heard a dog barking. In my head he sounded just like Harley."

He shrugged. "We all have our off days."

She leaned forward in her seat, suddenly becoming interesting in something he hadn't yet said. "So, I _do _remember you telling me you joined a traveling carnival, what was that like?"

Barton chuckled and shook his head. "Crazy. Alright, so long story short is this, after my parents died in a car accident my brother an—"

Her eyes went wide for a moment. "I didn't know you had a brother!"

He continued, not ignoring her, but just letting it go. "Yeah, Barney. Anyway, we were tossed into an orphanage which just sucked. After a while we manage to break lose and came across the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders. There was this guy—one of the carnies who did a show—named Jacques, also known as the Swordsman. He and this other guy, Buck, took me under their wings and taught me a thing or two. Jacques taught me how to use blades while Buck taught me to shoot—"

Little grinned. "I can only assume the pupil has surpassed the teacher."

There was a hint of pride in the way he smirked. "Damn straight." After a drink of coffee he continued. "Now, back to the story. I found out that Jacques was embezzling money to pay off a gambling debt, but before I could turn his ass in he beat the shit outta me and left me for dead. Luckily, Barney and Buck stepped in before Jacques ended me. He became my new full-time mentor and taught me everything I know. Well…shit got kinda bad after that and we split ways. Not long after that I found SHIELD, or they found me really since that's how it usually works, and I joined up. That was about ten years ago. From there, you probably know the rest since I know you've read my file."

She grinned. "Like you haven't read mine."

They shared a knowing grin as they each took a drink.

"So, Clint, whatever happened to your brother?"

He sighed. "He joined the army and later became an fed. When I said shit got bad, Buck convinced me to try and rob this bad guys place. Barney was guarding it and I shot him." He looked down into his coffee. "So we've both hurt our siblings pretty badly."

Little gave him a weak smile. "At least it's something we can both understand, right?"

All he could do was smile at her.

The couple finished their rather plain and meager lunch to return to walking around. Little was adamant that she felt no pain, though Barton didn't believe her entirely. He was certain she was just bucking up and trying to muscle through it. It made him grin just a little. He liked to see that she had heart like that. They made their way to Central Park after Little insisted they buy a loaf of bread to feed the fish in the pond or any birds that they might happen upon. They stood at the center of a bridge tossing bits of bread to waterfowl floating lazily on the water below. The two of them continued to share childhood memories, many about what kind of antics they got into.

Little snickered. "I was a pretty good kid, but I did get caught stealing when I was eleven."

"The classic candy from the corner store?"

She smirked. "No, books, actually. I liked to read and I hadn't gotten my allowance yet, but I just couldn't wait! I was worried they would sell out before I could buy a copy. Anywa—"

"Joann? Joann Little?"

The archer and mutant turned to see a slightly rotund woman pushing a stroller heading their way. She had a shocked look on her tan face as a breeze blew her shoulder length brown hair about.

Little grinned nervously. "Uh…No, sorry. I'm not Joann."

The woman narrowed her brows eyes in scrutiny before she noticed that the woman she was talking to had blue eyes instead of green. She gasped and put a hand to her cheek. "Oh, I am sorry. You see, you look just like my friend, Jo—"

"Joann is my sister. I guess she never told you she's a twin?"

Brown Eyes beamed a smile. "So you're Kaleigh! Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Holly, a friend of your sister's. I was just going for a stroll and when I saw you I was shocked. Joann doesn't usually come into the city. That, and your hair is so much shorter than hers I was amazed to think she'd dare cut it. Then I worried because you look hurt and Joann never mentioned anything about getting hurt herself."

Barton stood back, watching the exchange between the women. He could see the obvious discomfort on Little's face that this Holly woman was oblivious to.

"Joann mentioned me?"

Holly beamed that overly friendly smile. "Why, yes! Not long ago she mentioned her sister had gotten into a bad accident. Hmm, I suppose I should've known better since you've got these braces and such, but that's beside the point. Now, I was shocked! I've known Joann for almost five years now after she was the florist for my wedding and she's never mentioned a sister until just recently. Speaking of which, what is it you do? I asked, but she skirted the subject."

Little was a deer in headlights for a moment as those big brown eyes stared at her, prying deeply into her soul. She stammered out an answer finally. "Trainer. Uh…Dog trainer. I also own a dog park just outside the city." _Now, please shut up and leave!_

"How wonderful! My husband and I got a dog recently and I've been meaning to look for a place to take her. What's it called?"

Her grimace might have been misconstrued as a grin. "A Little Place for Paws. Uh…Google it."

"Oh! How clever! Your sister's shop is similarly named. Did you two do that on purpose?"

"Um…No…I ha—"

Holly continued. "You wouldn't happen to have a card, would you? My Delilah, our Puggle, just won't stop barking at night and it keeps waking the baby. Could you help us?"

Little looked as though she was both on the verge to leap over the rail and swim away or punch the woman who refused to shut the hell up and leave her alone.

Barton, seeing this, stepped up. "I'm sorry, but she only works with one client at a time and she's currently working with me. I was just telling her how my Golden Retriever Thor just won't stop marking territory in the house and that it needs to stop."

_God bless you, Clint Barton! _She smiled. "Yes, one dog at a time. It works better to really get to know the dog. So, how about I finish working with Clint and," she cast him a humorous glance, "_Thor_ than I'll call my sister and get your number so we can work something out."

Holly clapped. "Marvelous! Well, it was so nice to meet you, Kaleigh. I do hope you won't be too long with him and his dog. I really need to figure out what to do about Delilah. Anyway, again, nice meeting you." She continued on her path through the park waving goodbye as she went.

Little collapsed against rail. "I hope my sister isn't actually _friends _with that woman!" She then cast a huge grin in his direction. "And really? _Thor? _That's the first thing you thought of?"

Barton laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "Well, it was either Thor the pissing Retriever or Stark the humping Doberman."

She spun so that the small of her back was against the rail. "What about Tasha the feisty Terrier who has dominance issues."

"Roger, the Yellow Lab with social problems."

She laughed. "No! Rogers would be a sheepdog with social problems. Bruce would be the Lab, albeit a chocolate one instead of yellow, with neurotic tendencies."

The two of them continued to joke about what kind of dog each Avenger would be as they made their way back to the Tower. It was decided that Little was a poodle due to her hair and that had the memory of a goldfish. She took the joke in stride and didn't let it get to her. She got back at Barton by saying he was a German Shepard with jealous tendencies, which, of course, he denied. Little wasn't totally oblivious, though. She knew he was jealous of the time she spent with Banner, but she thought it was all in good fun and that a little jealousy never hurt a relationship.

When they got back to the Tower they spent the rest of the day just lounging around the living room flipping between channels of movies and regular daytime television. Barton got her to admit that leaving her crutches probably wasn't the best idea because she would hiss or grimace if her knee was jostled. She did say, however, that she'd rather know she can go an afternoon without them and suffer a little pain than actually need them all day. They were halfway the television cut of _Braveheart _when the elevator opened and a bolt of white with a tinge of orange ran through the room and towards Little. Ember jumped onto the couch and curled up on her mama's chest, purring instantly and letting Little know how missed she had been. Jarvis informed her that the kitten had indeed gone down to the lab and, in Banner's words, had behaved herself as though Little was there to watch over her. The woman just smiled and kissed the top of her kitten's head before continuing with the movie.

After a long, strenuous day of doing absolutely nothing in particular and everyone was retiring to bed, the couple and the kitten rode the elevator back up to the Suite Floor (as it had been dubbed by the majority). They stood outside Barton's door for a moment since it was at the beginning of the hall. As they stood there talking the elevator _dinged! _and the doors slid open to reveal Banner, Rogers, and Romanoff stepping off to head to bed. Though he had never been exposed to high levels of gamma radiation, Barton felt as though he was going to turn into an enormous green rage monster when Little smiled sweetly at the doctor and wished him a good night. As the three Avengers were walking by, Barton made a point to cup Little's neck gently and kiss her deeply.

Romanoff rolled her eyes. "Seriously? That couldn't wait? There's a bedroom right behind you, yah know."

Barton smirked and though he spoke to his friend his eyes never left Little's. "Good point." Reaching behind him, he opened the door and pulled Little inside. After she removed her braces they fell into bed together. Little quickly stamped out any fires burning by picking up Ember and resting with the kitten between them. It hadn't been that long since her discussion with Banner and she wasn't about to test if she truly was as inadequate as she feared just yet. Instead, they fell asleep with a purring kitten sandwiched between them and smiles on their tired faces.

**A/N Alright, so a sweet and almost simple chapter. Now, Holly isn't a character that'll be stickin' around, kay? Just in case you were wondering.**

**_~* 90th Reviewer gets a shout-out and will get a sneak-peek at whatever chapter I'm working on when that review comes in! This means they'll get to read a juicy bit before the rest of you lot! *~_**

**Like it? Love it? Review it! **


	22. Finally Free

**A/N Thanks for all the reviews! Can you believe I'm only four away from 100! I'm stoked! Let's see if we can get there!**

**Mzfeebs was the 90th reviewer! Can I get a round of applause, people? Woohoo!**

**_~* 100th Reviewer will get to know a major happening in the plot and story that changes many things (should they choose to take it!) *~_**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Finally Free**

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into a month and more. The rest of September had gone by with little to speak of. The Avengers were given plenty of time to relax between the occasional call to action. Nothing was ever major, though. Most of the calls were for simple criminal offenses. There hadn't been any sort of global catastrophe or threat since the fall of Loki and his army of Chitauri. It wasn't that anyone was complaining. Life at the Tower passed in a comfortable rhythm of repetition. Banner spent much of his time in the lab working through anything that came to mind or the possible task Stark would put him to. He had come to study the blood work of some of the Avengers as well, but mostly it was just Little's blood he was interested in. With so much down time he decided to take up the hobby of finding out what made mutants so different. In all technicalities he was a mutant, but he wanted to know what it was that made naturally born mutants so special. Meanwhile, the more physical Avengers spent much of their time training and staying fighting-ready. Romanoff and Rogers were nearly inseparable now and the group and even a few Stark employees were taking bets on when either the spy or soldier would be caught sneaking out of the other's room, though none would dare say anything about it while around Romanoff for fear of a horrifyingly painful death.

Barton was thinking of this, reflecting on the past weeks with a small grin as he looked up at the morning skies over New York. They had just passed the midpoint of November and his breath was clouding around him before being whisked away in the breeze. He was standing on the roof near the landing pad, waiting and watching. A week and a half ago Little had left on a transport headed for the SHIELD base in New York where they would finally remove the metal from her once ruined bones and joints. She was so close to the finish line of the healing process he couldn't help but feel happy for her. Now she would be able to get back into fighting form and hopefully Fury would find an assignment for them to get back into the swing of things. It had been months since anything had happened. Maybe the criminals of the world were just too scared that should they slip up the Avengers would come busting down their door. The very thought made the grin on Barton's face grow just a bit. Turning his attention back to the skies he searched for the tiny black dot that would soon grow into a quinjet. They had heard nothing the entire time Little was gone until just half an hour earlier. A communiqué had come through telling them that the transport should be leaving within the hour. That meant they could be arriving any minute. He had missed her while she was gone, partly because she was his girl, but mostly because of Ember. Boy, was that kitten a handful when she wasn't being understood! In the two months since they had all moved into the building she had grown quite a bit and had become accustomed to having a sort of personal translator. Now with Little gone she was running amok and when someone didn't understand her she would pitch a fit that included wailing, screaming, hissing, and scratching. What was worse was that she had become attached to Barton since he was the one who she had slept the most with next to her mama. This made it difficult for him to do anything since she was used to following Little around everywhere. Barton had tried once or twice to get the kitten to stay on the Suite Floor, but nothing worked! His only hope was when he was able to get Ember to spend time in the lab with Banner. She seemed alright with this, but it wasn't long before Jarvis would contact him saying Banner needed the kitten to skedaddle. Barton couldn't wait until Little got back just so Ember would stop being a pest to the rest of the group.

As if she had been reading his mind the kitten looked up at the man and let out a loud _mrrroow! _

Barton looked down at her and shook his head. He hadn't even been able to leave her inside while he waited for Little to return. The man plopped down on the roof next to Ember and rubbed her fuzzy head. "Mama will be back soon, so hush. Once she's here you can rattle off about just how mean we all were for not understanding whatever the hell it was that you've wanted, Your Majesty." Barton had taken to calling her that after the second day when Ember's usually playful and adorable attitude switched into Bitch Mode.

Ember sat down and curled her tail around her little toes, puffing out her chest and holding her little head high. She hadn't understood his human words, but the way she said it made her think he had been hurtful and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset.

He rubbed her head and gave her a playful shove. She was a pain in the ass, but she was pretty cute. "Don't get huffy with me, Ember." He smirked as he scratched behind her ears. "I don't know how you do it, but you get that same look on your face at Little when I find some way to offend her." As he continued to give the kitten some much needed affection he shook his head at himself. He was sitting on a rooftop talking to a cat as though she understood him. Next thing that could possibly happen is that he _would _start understanding what Ember wanted and that was just a scary thought.

"Hey! What're you doin' up here?"

Barton whipped his head around to see Tony Stark walking out onto the roof. He gave a small head nod in acknowledgment. "Waiting for Kaleigh's transport."

Stark shoved his hands in his pocket and looked at the sky. Well, he certainly couldn't see anything of notable worth. "Well, when you do see Fifi coming head inside and let Jarvis know. Once she's here I've got a big announcement to make, alright? I've been waiting for her to decide to show up! So, once she's here you guys get to the penthouse and Jarvis'll round everyone else up."

He didn't wait for a reply before heading back into the building.

Barton just waved a lose hand at the man in dismissal. "Yeah, sure." He knew his statement fell upon deaf ears, but it was still said. He continued to sit on the roof, petting Ember as she tried to remain patient. With a smirk he realized that the fluffy white and orange kitten had missed Little just as much, if not more, than anyone else had. He knew there was a special sort of connection that the woman had with the cat. Despite not usually being a sappy sort of guy, he found it sweet that the kitten referred to Little as her Mama. Barton laughed at himself. Not sappy? Please! In the past couple months he had been more romantic than usual, but that was easily dismissed by logic. The few times he and Little had ever spent time together outside of a mission was training or getting a bite to eat in the mess. Seeing as how she wasn't fond of spending time watching others train there went a good portion of their usual hang out time. They had gone out a few times or spent lazy days watching movies. It was nice. He hoped, however, that that she was completely ready they could get back to the gym.

And suddenly, a dot.

Barton shot up, grabbing Ember so that she wouldn't fall from where she had been resting on his lap. He fixed his gaze on the black dot heading their way and a grin came to his face. That was it! That was the transport! He held tight to the kitten so that she wouldn't drop from his hand as he raced through the door to the roof and down the short flight of stairs to the penthouse below. "Jarvis! Jarvis, she's almost here!"

_"Thank you, Agent Barton. I shall inform the others now."_

He set Ember on the floor, receiving an unhappy mew from her. With a pat on the head, he left her to return to the roof. "Jarvis, don't let her back on the roof, alright?"

_"Of course. We wouldn't want Agent Little becoming distressed over the potential loss of the kitten."_

Barton smirked. He had grown accustomed to the AI and was even beginning to like it. Jarvis certainly made things easier in their lives. With that thought he went through the door that opened to the staircase leading up to the roof. Behind him he could hear Ember mewling and scratching at the base of the door demanding to be allowed to follow. He ignored her and raced back up to the roof and found the black dot again. It was no longer a dot in the sky, but instead it was looking like plane about the size of a small child's toy. He kept well away from the pad and waited for the plane to land. Oh, each second ticked by in excruciating impatience as the plane grew ever bigger. Finally it was life-sized and preparing to land. Barton stepped back even further to make sure he was well out of the way.

The plane gave a small bounce as it landed. After the engines were cut, the back hatch opened. The first to walk out was a man dressed in SHIELD uniform with a pristine lab coat. He stopped at the back of the hatch and turned to hold out a hand for the next person. Out stepped Agent Little with a smile on her face and the short curls on her head bouncing and bobbing with each movement and breath of wind. The brace on her arm was long gone and now all that was there were some bandages that wouldn't be there for long. Her right leg and left knee were wrapped in soft but ribbed braces to allow better comfort over the newly opened and stitched flesh. She smiled to the doctor and shook his hand before the man climbed back into the jet. The hatch closed and she stepped back with a slight limp. Once the quinjet was gone she turned with a smile on her face and quickly approached Barton to throw her arms around his neck and hug him close.

She smiled slightly and pressed her face against his neck. "Missed yah."

Barton wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close for a moment. "Me too." Pulling back, he nodded to the door. "C'mon, Tony's got some big announcement or whatever. C'mon." He took her by the hand and led her down the stairs and into the penthouse. The door opened to reveal the other five residents of the top floors of the building and a cat who turned into a white streak to sit happily by her Mama's feet. Little picked up the kitten and snuggled her to her chest, proclaiming quietly how much she had missed her little darling.

Pepper was there and she hopped up and walked over to the two of them. She gave Little a smile and beckoned her to join them. "Welcome back, Kaleigh. Glad to see you're well."

Little smiled. It was perfectly hopeless to convince Pepper to call her by her last name. Oh, the red head knew that she preferred it, but Pepper ignored that fact. Little couldn't help but think that maybe this woman was the right person for Stark. "Thanks, Pepper."

Stark—the ever impatient one—gave a loud huff. "Alright already! Get in here so I can make my freakin' announcement. We can have the Welcome Home party later!"

This only got him a quick reprimand from Pepper while the couple took their seats on one of the couches in the room while the man stood before them.

"Right then! Here goes, Thanksgiving is fast approaching and it was Pepper's idea that we as a 'family' have a dinner here, just the seven of us, but come Christmas time I'll be throwing a Holiday Party," he paused with a frown, "Pepper said I shouldn't call it a Christmas party because that's 'politically incorrect.' Whatever, so there is going to be a party happening here. This floor, the Rec Floor, and the Living Area is where the party will be confined to."

Romanoff raised a brow. "What about our rooms?"

"Way ahead of you, Red. Jarvis is programmed to not allow anyone on that floor aside from us or if they are with one of us. Now, back on track, this party is black-tie formal, though don't let that make you think it'll be boring. I fully intend on letting the booze flow free—" He paused when he noticed Little raising her hand slowly. "Yes, Fifi?"

She was frowning. "Black-tie? So that means dresses…doesn't it?"

He smirked and clapped his hands sarcastically. "Yes, very good! Would you like a treat for knowing that?"

She growled. "Watch it, Stark. I _can_ shift again and I'm not afraid to bite your ass." She crossed her arms. "I suppose shoes are required, too?"

That was when the room noticed that, as always, Little was barefoot.

Stark rolled his eyes. "Yes, black-tie means fancy dresses and pretty heels with professionally done hair and makeup. Guys, that means you, too. I want either extremely nice suits or tuxedos. I'd actually prefer you wear a tux, though." Before any of the men could make a complaint, he continued. "If you need a tux because you either don't have one or yours it outdated I'll get my tailor right on it. Fifi, Romanoff, you'll be helped by the lovely Miss Potts. I trust her to help you ladies find everything you'll need. Don't worry," he winked at his girlfriend, "she's got an eye for things I like."

Eye-rolling went through the group in great abundance.

Rogers, who was sitting beside Romanoff, was the first to bring a bit of logic. "I have a question: If this is a party for people _you _know and are part of _your _social class, how will we fit in?"

The woman beside him nodded silently in agreement.

Stark beamed. "I am a genius, after all, so I've figured that you too."

Pepper cleared her throat.

He sighed. "Alright, Pepper figured it out. So, not long ago Romanoff here was a plant in Stark Industries that SHIELD placed to watch me. She'll still be playing the part of Pepper's assistant, Natalie Rushman. The rest of you will also be in the guise of Stark employees. Barton, Rogers, you're our body guards. No need to worry about aliases for you two since your names are pretty common. Bruce, you're my new lead scientist, giving you the right to attend a party like this, and Fifi is your personal assistant, giving _her _the right to attend. Fifi, you probably won't need an alias. Bruce, if you think you need one just come up with one on your own, alright?"

Little noticed how Barton tensed slightly when Stark told her of her new "job." She mentally rolled her eyes. Green never did look good on Barton.

"Now, I'm done here, you can all go back to your lives."

As everyone was getting up to leave, he stopped them.

"Wait! I forgot, the party is set for Friday, December fourteenth. You've got a little under a month to get yourselves together on this."

Banner, Romanoff, and Rogers cleared out quickly. Barton was about to follow until he noticed Little was leaving just yet. Instead, she was pleading with Stark to let her go barefoot.

"I'll wear a floor-length dress. No one will even see my feet! C'mon, Stark, _please!_"

He clucked his tongue and shook his head. "No, shoes or you won't go."

She pouted like a teenager being denied by her father. "Fine! Then I won't go! I don't want to go to your party anyway!"

Pepper, who was sitting back, was grinning from ear to ear and trying her best to hide it.

"Little, if you don't go than I'm closing down the dog park, which by the way, has nearly three-hundred monthly paying members who have given the place top marks. It would just be a shame."

She crossed her arms and growled slightly. He hadn't called her Fifi which meant he meant business. "Fine…I'll wear shoes…"

Stark patted her on the head. "Atta girl! Now, get that kitten out of my penthouse. She's yours, not mine."

Little bent and scooped up the kitten before heading for the elevator flanked by Barton. Once inside she set Ember down and crossed her arms. "You'd think he'd be a little more reasonable since he's so free-willed."

He chuckled and put an arm around her shoulder. "Hey, look at it this way; I look great in a tux."

She jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "Conceited asshole…" There was a small smirk on her face though.

Barton gave her a quick peck of a kiss as the doors slid open to the Suite Floor. "And I bet you'll look fantastic in a dress. I've never seen you in one aside from those black ones you had to wear in the wheelchair."

They stepped out into empty room with the thought that everyone else must have returned to wherever they usually were. Little plopped down on the couch and kicked up her legs. They were sore and wherever an incision had been made they were tender. "Which I loathed, by the way. I don't like dresses. I wore one to prom because it was my favorite color."

He lifted her legs before sitting beneath them and resting them over his thighs. A thought suddenly occurred. "Wait, what color was it?"

"Red."

He raised a brow and began to pry. "What did it look like?"

She looked at him with confusion, but answered him anyway. "It was a halter. The front stopped at my knees but the back kept going. I wore it with black heels and a knit sha—Holy shit I remember my prom dress!" Her eyes were wide and a smile was on her face. Ember, who had been sitting on her stomach and listening to the conversation just happy to have Mama home, jerked when she shouted.

Barton smiled at her realization.

She wiggled on the spot doing a sort of horizontal happy dance. She had remembered a few more things in the past month and a half such as the yellow and black hat and the name of her childhood best friend. They had settled that everything before age seven was probably lost forever, but there were things that could still be remembered.

Ember crawled further up her mama's chest and curled up beneath her chin with a quite mew.

Little stroked her head with a smile. "Did she behave?"

"Ugh…Don't even get me started on her behavior. She went from adorable to grade A bitch in two days. I figure it's because you weren't around to translate for her and she was getting frustrated. She latched onto me most of the time, too."

She smiled and kissed the kitten's head. "You missed Mama, huh?"

Ember purred and snuggled closer.

"Be honest with me, did you give Clint any grief?"

The kitten moved away from the closeness she was sharing with Little and mewed sheepishly.

At first, Barton was certain Ember would get a stern talking to based on the way that mew sounded and the cross look that first came to Little's face. However, when the kitten mewed again she melted and snuggled Ember close. "Aw! Baby, that's so sweet. I'm sure he'll forgive you when I tell him."

He raised a brow and looked at them. He was leaning into his hand and his elbow was resting on the arm of the chair as he reached over to scratch Ember's head. "Alright, what'd she say?"

Little beamed. "She said to tell Daddy that she was sorry."

"Daddy?"

She nodded and held the kitten out to him. "She calls you Daddy now! Now, hug her and tell her it's alright."

Barton looked at the kitten that was gazing at him with those big blue eyes that weren't too different in color from Little's and sighed in defeat. Taking her, he held her close and let her lay against his chest. "Yeah, I suppose it's alright." Ember began to purr and he had to admit that he melted just a little. "Next time I won't be so nice, got it, Your Majesty?"

Little chuckled. "New nickname?"

"Well, she was acting like a spoiled princess—which you've made her into, honestly—so it fits."

She smiled as the kitten jumped down from her spot and trotted with her tail up high back to the bedroom. Little shook her head with a chuckle. "I suppose you're right, but I'll bet you money she's going to be the smartest cat in the world one day. I wish I could breed her, but at that point her standards will probably be too high for any normal tom to fill."

Barton just laughed and pulled her into a sitting position to plant a quick kiss on her lips. "Look at you, already planning her future like a real mom."

She groaned. "And now I feel old…"

He just laughed at her and gave her another quick kiss.

The next few days were spent with Little relaxing. A few days after her arrival Banner removed what stitches there were left. She still needed to take it easy for a while, but she finally started getting back to the gym and working slowly into her old routine. Little knew it would take a decent amount of time before she was back to her old self. It had been just over seven months since the accident and it had turned her from lithe to lazy. She was determined, though, and being told to take it easy wasn't going to stop her from pushing herself just a little. After months of being bedridden, then in a wheelchair, followed by crutches and all the while in stiff braces it felt good to finally just be free.

**A/N Who's ready to party STARK STYLE! Woop woop! Anyway, hope you loved the chapter!**

**_~* 100th Reviewer will get to know a major happening in the plot and story that changes many things (should they choose to take it!) *~_**

**Like it? Love it? Review it!**


	23. A Girls' Day

**A/N Thanks for all the super awesome love, guys!**

**A super freakin' special shout out to the wonderful KD Skywalker! She's been my wall to bounce ideas off of for so many chapters now. Love yah!**

**The 100th reviewer was KITTY LOVES MATTXMELLO! I'm so excited that I've gotten so many reviews for this story! Alright, so the sweeps I've been doing are done for now, but they will be back! I promise!**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: A Girls' Day**

Barton woke up, looking around through tired eyes. His eyes found the alarm clock sitting on his nightstand. It was only six-thirty-three in the morning. He ran a hand over his face before focusing on a dark knot in the wood. The furniture was nice and functional, but nothing overly fancy. He liked it. A quiet chuckle left him as he thought about what he probably would've gotten. Probably cheap black crap that could be bought at Wal-Mart. That kind of stuff that breaks even if all you did was bump it with your hip. He turned his head away from admiring the furniture and turned to the other person lying in his bed. Little was nestled against his left side with an arm on his chest and the other was beneath the pillows. Her face was resting on his chest and her cheek was squished slightly making her lips pucker. Her curly mop was in disarray, falling over part of her face. It had been a week and a half since her return and every night they had shared a bed. He grinned and laid his head back, closing his eyes and willing himself back to sleep. He could get at least another hour or two before he really had to think about getting up for the day. He ran his fingers over her back with the arm that was wrapped around her. With a yawn he closed his eyes and bent his knee upward to stretch his leg.

With a hissing wince he regretted the movement.

Lookin down the bed he saw Ember chewing on his toes through the blanket. Her bright blue eyes stared up at him, gleaming with mischief. Even though she was being watched she gave a big chomp, tempting him into play.

He gave his foot a shake and shook his head. "No, not now. Later." He hoped that his whisper wouldn't disturb Little's sleep. That woman's eyesight was like that of any predatory animal, but it still didn't match his own. However, her hearing was tremendous in comparison to anyone else he knew. It was amazing.

Little sighed in her sleep and rolled over so her back was to him.

He let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding and relaxed again. Clicking his tongue quietly and wiggling his fingers he beckoned to Ember for her to come up and lay at the top of the bed where he could keep an eye on her. Well, the kitten did as he bid, but laid on his chest with her nose to his chin, refusing to budge from that spot. _Damn cat…_Barton just sighed and willed himself to go back to sleep.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Barton shot upright, sending the puff ball that was Ember flying to the foot of the bed. She hissed at him for the very rude awakening. The first place his eyes went were to Little, who somehow was managing to sleep through the awful noise. He rubbed his face and grimaced. Hadn't he just fallen asleep a few minutes ago? Turning to look at the alarm clock his brows rose. It was nine-forty-seven. _Well, damn. _Maybe it hadn't only been moments ago he had fallen back to sleep. Being careful not to awaken Little, he slid out of her grasp and made his way to the door. He rubbed a hand over his face as he opened the door just enough to show his face. "'lo?"

Pepper was standing there, dressed in comfortably loose clothes of yoga pants and a tank top. A coat was sitting in the crook of her elbow. Behind her was Romanoff, who was dressed in a similar fashion. She did _not_ looked pleased.. The more orangey red head looked upon him expectantly. "Is Kaleigh awake yet?"

He raised a brow. "Should she be?"

The woman pursed her lips and shook her head in exasperation. "Yes! We have an appointment to find dresses for the party in forty-five minutes! We're supposed to be leaving right _now!_" After telling Romanoff to go find some clothes for Little she pushed past Barton and into the room. Nobody got between Virginia Pepper Potts and her schedule! She saw Little sprawled on the bed with Ember at her feet. Jabbing the woman with a finger she began her tirade. "Wake up, Kaleigh! Get up! I know you know about the appointment today, so get your short self out of bed _now!_"

Little groaned into the pillow and looked up. She tried to cower beneath the blanket. Oh, she knew what day it was and what plans they had, she was just hoping to avoid them. She didn't want to buy a dress! She didn't want to buy accessories and shoes! She wanted to stay in bed with—_Hey? Where's Clint?_ She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What?"

Romanoff returned with the clothes and handed them to the slightly enraged woman.

Pepper tossed them none too ceremoniously on the woman in bed. "Get dressed. Now. You will be of this room in three minutes and you will be ready to leave. Understood?"

Little grumbled an acknowledgement and stuck her tongue out Pepper before climbing out of bed. She tossed her pajamas aside and started pulling on the clothes given to her.

Barton smirked. "Did you know about today?"

She grumbled. "Yes…" She pulled the shirt on over her head. "I just didn't want to go."

He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "Just think of it this way, the sooner you buy a dress, the sooner I can take it off of you." He pressed a kiss to her neck just below the ear.

Little tried not to become overwhelmed by a sudden wanting as she bit her lip. A thought crossed her mind. It had been a week and a half since she got back. Banner said she could do anything until she was one-hundred percent again. She was getting pretty close to that. Maybe…Maybe soon would be alright. She pushed away from him. "As much as I'd love to find out all the other places you could kiss right now, I'd rather not be killed by Pepper. At this point she's probably mad enough to k—"

"Your three minutes are up, Kaleigh! Get out here!"

She grimaced. "Gotta go." After a quick kiss she snatched a comb off his dresser and made her way out of the room while attempting to tame her messy locks. "Watch Ember for me!"

Pepper pointed to the elevator. "Alright, ladies, let get this show on the road."

Romanoff and Little shared a slight grimace as they got into the elevator and stood behind the now slightly terrifying woman. Even the Widow had to admit she was pretty scary when angry. On the ride down the tall building the agents shared looks and glances accompanied by subtle hand movements that conveyed an entire conversation. Neither were very pleased with the idea of dress shopping, but both would be on their best behavior so they could stay out from beneath Pepper's baleful gaze. Romanoff did her best to hide a smirk when Little made faces at the redhead's back and mocking her by standing as straight and as tall as Pepper did seeing as how the woman practically towered over both SHIELD agents.

When the elevator reached the bottom floor the three women walked out into the lobby. The young receptionist at the desk said a hurried good morning to Pepper and the two women she didn't recognize. The young brunette stared after them in wonder. Who were _they_?

Pepper led the way out front where the town car was awaiting them with Happy standing beside the back door. He held the door open for the women and waved for them to get in. Once inside all hell broke loose.

"Kaleigh, do you realize how difficult it is getting an appointment at Kleinfeld's on such short notice even with the connections Tony has? We'll be cutting it very close and it's all thanks to you."

The dark haired woman frowned. "Jeez…I'm sorry. Wait, Kleinfeld's? I thought that place was a wedding shop."

Pepper tossed her red head. "They carry all sorts of formal wear. Now, back to what _I _was saying. They have plenty to chose fro—"

"And if I don't like anything they have?"

Uh oh. The lips pursed! "There are plenty of stores in New York City that sell evening wear. Neiman Marcus, Saks, you name it. If we can't find one in this city than I will fly you out to LA and we'll find one there. You won't get out of this, Kaleigh. You will find a dress."

She leaned back and crossed her arms. "Yes, Mother."

Pepper rolled her eyes and stared out the window. Some people could be so childish!

When they arrived at the boutique the three women were given the royal treatment and showed to one of the showing areas where a plush couch waited for them. They were offered drinks and light snacks, which Little pounced on with joy in her heart since she hadn't had time to grab something for breakfast. Pepper shook her head and felt the urge to apologize for the woman's lack of composure in the shop. Romanoff sat off to the side with a drink in her hand and just watched the shop work. She couldn't help but smirk at the two other women.

A blonde middle-aged woman walked out and greeted them with a smile. "Hello, Miss Potts! So lovely to see you. Now, what are we looking for today? I was told it's not a wedding. Who might your friends be?"

Pepper smiled. "Hello, Sarah. No, not a wedding. A black-tie affair and we are in need of gowns. This," motioning to her left, "is my personal assistant, Natalie Rushman, and this," motioning to her left, "is Kaleigh Little," she cringed at the use of her first name, "the personal assistant to one of Tony's colleagues. Now, I was thinking abo—Kaleigh are you alright?"

The mutant was rubbing at her eyes and on occasion a small cough was coming forth. Her eyes were becoming slightly red. When she looked up she cast a glance around the room. "Are there flowers around here?"

Sarah got a worried look on her face. "Yes, some centerpieces on the tables."

It clicked.

Pepper stood. "We need those flowers gone. Kaleigh's deathly allergic to flowers."

"Oh! Of course!" The blonde left the room quickly to get a hold of any employee not busy helping a customer to put any flowers in the store in a back room. When she returned she had even conjured up some allergy medicine for the woman.

Little smiled weakling. "Thank you."

After the redness and coughing had gone down they got down to business about the dresses. Sarah was adamant about making sure each one of them walked out with their perfect dress in their hands. First up to bat was Romanoff. Surprisingly enough she was easy to please. The first dress she came out to show them was a sultry black number with a low neckline, inch-wide straps, and a slit up her thigh. It was just the sort of dress they would picture the almost overly curvy woman. It was sleek and flattering. No doubt every man, single or taken, would try and hit on her. What made Little smile and think that this might not be so bad was the smile on Romanoff's face when she looked in the mirror. The bottom of the dress was their favorite part. It flared just enough to trail along the ground slightly as she walked. It was one of those dresses that only a bombshell like Romanoff could pull off.

Pepper smiled. "See, now it's not so bad. Here, I'll go next since I fear Kaleigh is going to be the most difficult." She walked off with their blonde attendant, leaving the other two women to discuss matters of whatever came to mind.

Romanoff turned a smile on Little. "It's not that bad, you know. It's kinda fun, really. Just think of it as another covert mission."

Her fellow agent whined. "I never had to wear disguises like this…I don't play dress up like you do."

The Russian shrugged. "Hey, you never know! Sarah could find you that one dress that you would kill to show off in. C'mon, you're more of a girl than I am most of the time and _I'm _enjoying this. Live a little."

Little was about to retort when Pepper walked out in a startlingly blue halter gown with a trumpet skirt. She smiled at the two women and smoothed down the sides. "What do you think?"

The agents shared a look and turned shaking heads upon the woman.

"Blue, yes, but not a halter. Maybe one shoulder or strapless."

Pepper turned and looked in the mirror. She nodded in agreement. "I think you're right. There was another blue one in the group that Sarah picked out that I liked. I'll go try that on. In the mean time, Kaleigh, think of colors you'd like."

As the woman walked away Little's pale face got a little paler. Colors? She frowned. Well, red was her favorite color and this _was _going to be a Christmas party. So, red? Yes, red would be good. She continued to ponder these thoughts as Pepper walked out in the next dress. At first she didn't see what the woman was wearing since she was completely lost in the confusing world of fashion, but she was pulled from her mind when she heard Romanoff's quiet exclamation.

"Oh my God."

Looking up she couldn't stop the smile. Pepper was in an A-line blue dress that trailed ever so slightly and fit like a glove until just above her hips where it then began to loosen and flare. Towards the bottom it faded from dark to light blue and at the top the only sleeve to be seen was came up from between her breasts and over her left shoulder. She had let her hair out of its ponytail and gave a small twirl. "What do yah think?"

Little smiled happily. "Pepper, if I was gay I'd hit on you. Stark will absolutely love it."

Romanoff smiled in agreement. "I love it. Blue looks great on you, Pepper."

The woman smiled and stepped down off the small platform. "Alright, two down, one to go. I'm going to change and come out. Kaleigh, you go back with Sarah and don't give her any grief."

Little grimaced as she followed Sarah back to the fitting area.

The blonde raised a brow. "Not excited about this?"

She sighed. "You have no idea. I don't do dresses. I don't do fancy. Hell, most of the time I hardly even wear shoes, but Stark wants me at this damn party…I tried to decline, but he convinced me." She stood in front of the mirror so that Sarah could look over her figure.

"Well, I'm jealous, and that's for certain. How are you so _tiny? _I mean, that's a waist Scarlett O'Hara could be jealous of. Now, if you don't mind my saying, you've got a great figure here. A tapered waist with hips that flare just enough and a nice bust, but you're rather short. Something form fitting will look good on you, but nothing like Natalie's dress."

Little blushed slightly and nodded. "Yeah, I was going to ask for no slits. I had surgery not long ago and I'd rather not show off my wicked scars at a nice event, you know?"

Sarah nodded as she thought about what styles to bring in. "Did you have a color preference?"

"Red? It's my favorite color and it usually looks good on me."

She smiled and walked out before returning a few minutes later with a few hangers containing red dresses of different lengths and hews. She changed into the first one and refused to even leave the room. There was no way in hell she would let the girls see her in _that! _The next dress was better, good enough to walk out in. It was a figure hugging red gown with ruching to finger-tip length where it then flowed out gently. It had a sweetheart neckline that was lined with gems. She stood on the pedestal and waited for the guns to fire.

Pepper and Romanoff shared a look.

"Eh…Not horrible, but not all that great."

"I don't like it. It doesn't look good on you."

_Thank you, Nat, for always being the blunt one._

Well, back to the dressing room!

The next dress she stepped out in was, again, red. It was a halter that led into a mermaid bottom with a sparkling rim around the top of where the 'tail' of the dress began.

"Hell no." Was the unanimous and immediate decision.

She sighed. "Well, than what should I put on?"

Romanoff arched a brow. "Try on something that isn't so…red. It makes you look far too pale and your eyes almost disappear because the color is so bold."

Little and Pepper looked at the woman in utter and complete shock. Had that just come out of the quiet, calculating Black Widow?

Sarah nodded. "I know what you mean, Natalie." She stared at Little for a long while in that red dress and thought about what to bring out. The room fell eerily silent as they thought about what color she should wear.

Suddenly, a gasp.

The three women turned to their attendant.

Sarah was beaming. "I've got it! Oh, I've got it! Kaleigh, come back to the dressing room. I think I have the perfect dress for you."

Little hopped off the stand and followed the excited blonde back to the dressing room. She took off the offensive red dress and put it back on its hanger. When Sarah showed up with the dress, she frowned. She couldn't help but think it was a little too much. Yet, to throw all caution to the wind she put it on anyway. There was only one word that came to mind as she looked in the mirror before walking out to show the girls:

_Clint…_

This was it. This was the dress. She didn't care if anyone thought it was too much or not enough or not her color. She didn't care. What she knew was that Barton would see her in this dress and that would be it for the night. She smirked. They might not even make it to the party, after all. With a smile she walked out of the dressing room and to the show area. She stood on the pedestal and smile at Pepper and Romanoff. "Nat, you were right." She turned to show them the back while she looked in the mirror. It was perfect. "You don't think it's too much, do you?"

Pepper was beaming. "No! Absolutely not! You might be an assistant, but you're going to steal the spotlight at the party in that dress. What do you think, Nat?"

The Russian smiled and gave a single nod. "I love it. I never thought something like _that _would look so right on you, but it does. Now, I do believe we still need shoes and accessories, right Pepper?"

The redhead nodded. "Absolutely. So, shall we continue our search?"

The agents just smiled and nodded. The rest of the day was spent like real women with normal lives who didn't have to wonder if their phone were going to ring at any moment about some crisis or other. They gossiped, joked, and shopped for the necessary things for the party…and then some. Pepper and Romanoff got new shoes for the hell of it and Little wound up with an outfit that didn't include plain jeans, yoga pants, or a fitted tank top. They had lunch and laughed through most of it. It was nice to have a day to themselves. Everyone woman needs that day where they just go out with the girls and pretend that they have no worries, even the ones that save the world.

**A/N What does her dress look like? We may never know! BWAHAHA! Just kidding, you'll find out…but not yet! –evil laughter-**

**Another shout out to my girl KD Skywalker and all her awesomeness! **


	24. Nightmare

**A/N Thanks for all the glowing reviews, guys! You rock some serious awesome sauce! Also, I hope you all had an amazing 4th of July (for those readers who are in the US).**

**Warning! This is a long chapter, but I just didn't feel like splitting it! **

**Chapter Twenty –Four: Nightmare**

Little woke up gasping for air as she trembled in her bed. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat. She was alone for the first night since she had returned since she retired earlier than the others. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she would swear up and down she could feel unending pain reaching all the way to her outermost extremities. Each breath she took stung her lungs. It felt as though her ribs were crushed. Little closed her eyes and breathed deeply, forcing back a string of tears that dared to press against her lids. The dream had been horrible, terrifyingly horrible. She couldn't stop from remembering the dream as it flashed behind her closed eyes. Her hands had been locked in combat with a Chitauri warrior when he suddenly collapsed on top of her. She had looked about to see story after story of windows flash upward as they made their descent to the ground. The first pain began when they struck the hard concrete below. Little's eyelids squeezed harder. She wanted to forget the phantom pains she had just been feeling. In the dream she had been thrown down the city street like a child skipping rocks on a lake. The last thing she remembered before waking up was a blue sky so lovely it made her dream turn from painful to sad. How could such beauty exist while such pain occurred?

She sat up in bed and put a hand to her sweat covered forehead. The urge to vomit was welling up inside her. She picked Ember up from the foot of the bed and held her close. Somehow, the purring kitten helped just a bit. Taking deep breaths she kicked her legs over the edge of the bed and reached for the towel she had used for the shower to wipe away the shining layer of moisture from her skin. When she had finally calmed herself enough to stand, she glanced at the clock on her wall. It was illuminated by the light of the December moon just enough for her to read that it was just past two in the morning. She took another shaky breath, the dream still weighing heavily on her mind, and left the room. Her first thought was to go downstairs and get something strong to drink that would burn the dream from her mind, but that plan was trashed when she passed Barton's door. Perhaps being held by him would make things all better. So, feeling like a five-year-old crawling into her parents' bed, Little pushed the door open as quietly as possible and tiptoed across the room to his bed where she set the kitten down at his feet. The first smile since waking up came to her face, though it was weak and would fall easily should the thought of the pain return to the forefront of her mind. Barton was sleeping slightly diagonally across the bed with one leg sticking out from beneath the blankets and the majority of his bare chest uncovered. He looked peaceful, but she could still see the slight dip in his brow where they often came together in thought. At least he seemed to be dreaming easier than she had. Without another thought, Little lifted the blanket and crawled in next to him, snuggling her body as close to him as possible and shutting her eyes against the world.

Barton stirred and lifted his head, looking down at the form beside him. _She wasn't there when…_ "Kaleigh?"

She looked up, blue eyes reflecting the sadness and pain that troubled her mind.

He lifted a hand to her face and ran a thumb along her cheek. "What's wrong?"

She burrowed back into him, staring at the wall when she answered. "Bad dream. _Really _bad dream."

Barton was confused. He had seen her unglued when distressed over being stuck in a bed or hindered by other medical means, but that was anger, but sadness. Now she sounded as weak and tired. "Wanna talk about it?"

Her eyes squeezed shut and her brow came together as though she were in agonizing pain. "I remember."

"Remember what?"

Her breaths were shaking an uncertain. "Falling. Crashing."

The first reaction Barton had was to wrapped her in his arms and hold her close to his chest. There he held her for a few long moments before daring to speak again. "Are you alright?"

Her face was buried against his chest and she shook her head in denial. "Every time I saw that video, every time I tried to remember what it was like, could not compare. Most of the time I felt bad because to me it looked like my sister was the one doing the falling, not me. Now…Now I know."

He felt a warm drop hit his chest, followed soon by another. She was crying.

"God, it hurt. I've wanted to remember for the sake of remembering, but I'd rather forget it all over again."

Barton gave her a gentle squeeze. "Go back to sleep, Kaleigh, you're fine now. I promise."

The only response he got was her wrapping her arms about him and pressing close. Sure, he would've liked a little more personal space since she _never _slept this incredibly close, but he knew she needed it. Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned his head back and let sleep return. He didn't dream, or at least he didn't remember if he dreamed. Sleep came and took buried him deep within its folds until morning came. With a deep breath and a face rub, Barton sat up. He stretched his arms and rubbed his neck before realizing that Little and Ember were no longer in bed with him. His brows came together in confusion. Turning to look at his alarm he found it was still early enough to even be considered early since it was just past seven-forty-five. That was sleeping in by SHIELD standards but their newfound freedom usually let them go until nine or ten in the morning. With his curiosity getting the best of him, he got out of bed and groped around for his shirt from the previous day before heading out. First he checked her room. Nothing. He went downstairs to the kitchen but she wasn't there, either. He checked the gym thinking she might want to blow off some steam and forget about her nightmare, but she wasn't there. The only place he could think of to check was the lab.

Lo and behold, that's where he found her. She was perched on the table as a cat next to her kitten. It had been almost three weeks since the surgery and she was finally getting back into the swing of shifting after such a long break. Barton had to admit he liked her cat form. She was a sleek, long-haired black cat with brilliant blue eyes. What bothered him about the scene before him was that she was perched on the table next to Banner, who was stroking her head and scratching behind her ears. Her eyes were narrowing to slits and he was certain she was purring. Barton growled slightly as he watched, unnoticed, through the window. No one got to pet his girlfriend-slash-cat like that but _him! _Clearing his throat he walked in through the automatic sliding doors.

"_Agent Barton, here, Doctor Banner."_

The man looked up over his glances and gave a weak smile to the agent. "Hello, Barton."

With a loud _meow! _the cat Little leapt nimbly from one table to another, making sure not to mess up any papers or knock things over, and ending her journey by landing at Barton's feet. She shifted back and smiled at him. She was already dressed and ready for the day in her usual yoga pants and a fitted tee. "You're up early."

He raised a brow. "Look who's talkin'. When did you get up"

She frowned. "I didn't really get back to sleep. I left your room around five-thirty and went to the kitchen to mull things over a bowl of grapes when Bruce came down around six or so. I'm surprised you're up."

"I always wake up this early, I usually just go back to sleep though. When I saw you were gone I admit I worried a little."

Banner picked up Ember and walked over to the far side of the lab in his best attempt to give them their space and not make things awkward. He busied himself with playing with the kitten who refused to let him work. The project wasn't that important that he couldn't spare a few minutes to entertain the delightful little creature. He liked cats. Balling up a piece of paper he played fetch with Ember—a game he had never played with a cat before, especially not one as young as her.

Little smiled at Barton. "I'm fine. I talked with Bruce for a while about last night and I'm better."

The smile was genuine and her words sincere, but they irritated him. They could have talked about it more, but she seemed willing and ready to ignore it. Well, at least that's what he thought. He forced a small smile. "I'm glad." _Now to get you outta here. _"So, I was wondering if you'd like to up your gym-time a bit and get in some rougher sparring. You up for that?"

Bruce could still hear the conversation and looked up from Ember's pleading blue eyes. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Jo. Your knee might give out."

She turned and gave the good doctor a smile. "I'll be fine, Bruce. I'm feeling great today. If it becomes too much, I'll stop. Promise."

The man didn't like it, but he nodded and waved for her to go. "Alright, but you better stop the moment you think you may need to."

Little smiled and beckoned for Ember to follow her. "C'mon, baby. We'll come by later, alright?"

Barton always smirked when listening to her talk to the kitten. She always sounded like a mother talking to her toddling child and it was downright adorable. They left the lab together, but she stopped at the level of the gym since he still needed to get dressed and ready for the day.

In the gym, Little took a deep breath and started stretching after telling Ember to find a comfortable spot and chill. She was already pretty limber from being up and about, but she wouldn't push it. Stretching out her knee made her cringe. Honestly, she knew this wasn't the best idea, but she had seen the look in Barton's eye. She still didn't understand why he was to against her spending time in the lab. Banner was her closest friend on the team, now. Their relationship was strange. They had little to nothing in common aside from the ability to turn into something that could kill a normal human. Yet, somehow, they could talk easily with one another. _Perhaps it's our differences that make us so compatible as friends. _Friends. That's exactly what they were, so why did Barton dislike it so much? She pushed the thoughts from her mind and focused on stretching. A frown came to her face. She wasn't as bendy as she used to be, but time would cure that little problem. The door to the gym slid open and Barton walked in. Little looked over and didn't deny herself the pleased little grin that came to her face. His outfit of choice wasn't all that different from her own, just the masculine form. The tight, but moveable black shirt stretched across his chest and made the strong build of his arms far more noticeable.

Barton caught her stare and smirked. "Like that yah see?"

She grinned. "You just look so…" She bit her bottom lip as she tried to think of the proper word. "Delicious."

He laughed. "Well, c'mon, let's get to work. First up, cardio."

"Yes, Mr. Personal Trainer, Sir!"

They just laughed as they made their way to the suspended track above them. The gym was actually three floors tall with a suspended running track as the highest level and the sparring rings at the lowest. It was stocked with three or four of each kind of necessary workout machine or weight set. Little admired the place. Stark certainly knew how to equip a building to the point where a person may never need to leave it. On the track they ran in intervals sprinkling with jogging and the occasional walking if she had to give her knee a short rest. This always made her grimace. The doctors said her knee would cause her the most problem. Damn them, they were right! She muscled through, however, and refused to let an annoying twinge in her knee stop her. After their run they hit the weights, Barton showing off and making Little smack him upside the head playfully. She was built for endurance, speed, and flexibility, not to move cars with a shove.

They took a break around ten-thirty and sat on a bench drinking some water.

Barton nudged her. "You're doin' good, Kaleigh. Still think you can bring it on the mat?"

She tossed back a mouthful of water and smirked at him. "I know I can. Think you can keep up?" Standing, she poured some of the water over his head and sauntered off towards the stairs that led to the bottom floor of the gym.

Barton sat there, water dripping down his face, and watched her go. He stood and wiped the droplets away. "It's on."

He followed her down the stairs. The moment she heard him coming she put a kick in her step and raced to her favorite mat, making him chase her in order to catch up. Her eyes glistened with a challenge that was enough to send a shiver down his spine as she put up her hands, ready to go. Barton honestly loved sparring with Little. SHIELD trained their agents in many forms of martial arts, but she had this was of street fighting. No official moves or forms, no special techniques. She fought dirty and wasn't afraid to push the limit. Her reasoning was always the same. Animals don't brand their fighting with a fancy title. They just fight to defend their own. The couple locked up multiple times on the mat. They threw punches and well-aimed kicks that either collided with flesh or were dodged. At one point Barton had her in a headlock, but was playful about it, holding just tight enough so that she couldn't escape while she laughed and demanded he release her. When he finally did let go it was a big mistake. Her barefoot landed square on his chest, sending him backwards and right on his ass. She took the opportunity and jumped at him, sitting on his chest and pinning him to the mat. It wasn't much of a pin. She was pretty light in comparison to the amount of weight Barton could move easily. She kept her ground, though, and pinned his arms beneath her legs.

"Ha! Now who's got who?"

Barton smirked at her, his grey-blue eyes gleaming with mischief.

Little's victorious grin fell. "Uh oh."

Uh oh was right. Barton surged upwards, sending her back onto her rump. He was on top of her quickly, pinning her beneath his heavier form. "I do believe I've got you."

So much for sparring.

Little couldn't hold back the rather girlish giggle that bubbled forth from her before the outward noise was silenced by Barton's kiss. They laid on the mat for a good while, kissing and ignoring the fact that others may or may not be entering the room. It wasn't until this possibility became real that they looked up.

"Well. I'm never working on _that _mat again."

The couple looked up to see Rogers and Romanoff standing off to the side of the mats.

Little smiled and pushed her boyfriend off of her. "Oh, stop that, Tasha. One of these days you'll be pinned beneath some guy you're sparring and you won't be able to help yourself."

The Russian narrowed her eyes at Little. "I doubt that."

Barton smirked and mentioned something under his breath about Rogers.

"What was that, Clint?"

Little, who had heard his words, was laughing as he helped her to her feet.

"Oh, nothing, Nat."

They made a hasty retreat before Romanoff could throw something at them.

In the elevator, Little leaned against the wall. "I think I'm going to take a shower than get back to the lab."

Barton bristled slightly. "Oh?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Bruce has been looking over my blood, studying natural-born mutants and all. He needs a fresh sample and he promised me another lesson in Bengali. I may never use it, but its fun to learn."

"Bengali?"

The smile on her face bothered him. She was practically beaming. "Yeah. It's the official language of Calcutta, where he was at before SHIELD cast the line and hooked him. I'm not really that great at it. He says my accent is horrible, but who knows, one day I could be fluent."

Barton's smile could have doubled as a grimace. "Sure…One day. You know, I was hoping that we could spend today together. Get out of the Tower again like we did the last time."

She thought a moment, than smiled. "Sounds good, actually. I'm sure Bruce can wait another day or two for that blood sample."

The sigh of relief he exhaled was masked by the door opening to the Suite Floor. They stepped out and made their way to their rooms to shower and change. Once in her own room, Little realized Ember was missing.

"Jarvis?"

"_Yes, Agent Little?"_

"Is Ember still in the gym?"

"_No, Agent Little. She's currently riding the elevator up here. She noticed you left without her."_

She smirked. "Great job, Little. Awesome parenting skills." By the time she had showered and walked out of her blue and silver bathroom, Ember was on her bed and pitching a fit for being left alone. Nothing Little said would appease the insulted kitten who then strutted about the floor with her tail held high at the indignity of it all. The woman shook her head. Barton was right. Ember _was_ becoming a little priss. Shaking her head she got dressed and walked out to the main room where Barton was already waiting for her.

They left the Tower around noon and spent the day roaming the city. They walking in and out of little shops for the fun of it and got a bite to eat around two. It was nice to get out of the Tower. Though they had everything they needed there, nothing in that building could compare to New York City at its busiest. Barton was beginning to see the old Little he had been told about by Joann. She seemed to thrive in large groups. No one could be looking at her, but being in the center of a throng of people made her smile for some odd reason he wasn't sure of. They went to the park where she hid behind a bunch of bushes so that she could shift into a dog. Barton couldn't help but laugh at how well she played the part of his beloved pet. When people would ask him her name he would make a mental note to tell Stark he had stuck with the nickname of Fifi. It made Little growl at him quietly, but it was worth it.

Late afternoon began to roll in and they left the park after she carefully shifted outside of the public eye. They found dinner at a quick and easy burger joint that was just slow enough not to be considered fast food. Over dinner they talked about anything and everything that came to mind. Barton had to fight off twitches and grimaces the entire time, though. He enjoyed the talking and the closeness, but he hated how each topic would bring up something about Banner. He would mention how they played at the park. She would mention Banner playing fetch with Ember. He would bring up sparring and combat. She would make a note-to-self to make Banner join her in the gym since it would be best that he learned how to fight off enemies should he not wish to unleash the Hulk.. Now, she wasn't only talking about Banner. Oh, no. Little was talking about multiple things in response to his topics of choice. All Barton heard, though, was _Bruce this, Bruce that, Bruce everything! _It was driving him up the wall and he decided that enough was enough. He'd talk to her about it and _soon_.

They left the restaurant and made their way back to the Tower. With it being late fall the sun had already set although it was only a short while past six. Their hands were clasped together as they rode the elevator up to the Suite Floor. As the door slid open and they stepped into the main room, Barton mentioned wanting to watch a movie until he passed out.

Little smiled and squeezed his hand. "Mind if a join you?"

He gave her a smile. "Sounds good to me."

She turned on her heel. "You get it started. I'll be right back. Just gunna get a drink. You want something?"

Barton shook his head and watched her go before slipping into his bedroom. First, he fixed the blankets. He could leave them messy all day but he needed them to be straight by the time he intended to sleep. Next, he went through his collection of DVDs, but found nothing that interested him at the time so he asked Jarvis if he had anything good to watch. It was a silly question, really, seeing as how this was _Tony_ _Stark's_ AI butler that he was talking to. In the end he settled on an action movie. Hey, it was _his_ idea to watch a movie so damn it all he was going to watch _his _kind of movie. After changing and climbing into the bed he noticed that Little wasn't back yet. He decided he'd wait another few minutes before starting the movie to be fair. The time limit he gave her kept getting pushed back another minute or two each time one passed.

Little burst through the door with a smile and a half-empty bottle of water. "Sorry! Bruce was downstairs and we talked for a bit. I should've told you to start the movie. I'm sorry." She sat the bottle on the nightstand and crawled in next to him.

He tossed his hands up and looked at her incredulously. "Why don't you just go back downstairs?"

She was perfectly confused. "What?"

Barton got out of bed. Standing made it easier for him to think of how to word things. "Look, this if gunna seem a little sudden, but I'm fuckin' sick of every time I see you or talk to you, you have something to say about _him_."

Her brows came together. "Clint, what the hell are you talking about?"

He ran a hand over his face and through his hair. "I'm sick and tired of always hearing how you just came from the lab or how you're about to go to the lab or something that _Bruce _did or said. I mean, for the last two months you could've been in the gym working on getting back into things, but instead you spend all of your time with _him! _It makes a guy wonder."

And that did it.

Downstairs, Banner, Stark, and Rogers were sitting at the table when they heard the loud shout that was soon followed by a long string of yells. They all winced. They couldn't tell who was fighting at first, but it wasn't hard to figure out. They were there, Pepper was still away on a business trip on matters of the three new Stark Towers, and Rogers said Romanoff was downstairs. That left Barton and Little.

Stark nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a couples' fight, alright, and I would know."

Rogers looked at the ceiling. He could hear walking and the shouting had died down, but it soon grew again with what he could only assume was another allegation. He shook his head. "Wonder what they're arguing about?"

A smirk appeared on the billionaire's face. "I'd bet it has something to do with Brucie, here."

Banner joked on air and water. "Me? Why me?"

"C'mon! Barton's probably finally gettin' around voicing the complaints we all know he's been thinking about how much time you and Fifi spend together."

The doctor's brows came together. "I don't see why he's upset. Jo's my friend. I mean, she's practically like a little sister to me. Why would he be so upset?"

Rogers was about to speak, but stopped when they could very distinctively hear a very loud _WHAT! _being screamed in a woman's voice. Well, Little obviously wasn't happy. When the noise died down again, the captain turned to his team member. "Well, personally if I was with a gal who spent a lot of time with another man I'd like something was up."

More sputtering from Banner. "But! I! I mean! Really? Honestly, as far as I know there is absolutely _nothing _between us aside from our friendship!"

Stark looked at him pointedly. "Yes, but does Barton think that?"

The elevator doors slid open and Romanoff walked into the room just as the volume of the argument upstairs grew. Her brows met her hairline as she looked up. "What's wrong with them? Earlier today they were the picture of a happy couple."

"We think Barton's finally flipped his lid over how much time Brucie here spends with the family pet."

Rogers rolled his eyes at the terminology, but nodded in agreement.

Romanoff snorted. "About freakin' time."

They all stopped and gaped at the ceiling when Little's voice could clearly be heard.

"_FUCK OFF, BARTON!"_

_CRACK!_ Slammed the first door.

The eyes of the four on the level below the fighting couple followed the stomping sounds down the length of the ceiling before hearing the second _CRACK! _of Little's bedroom door slamming. If they weren't mistaken they also heard the sound of metal hitting the floor. What damage had the furious mutant done?

Upstairs, Little threw herself onto her bed and glared at the ceiling above her. In one hand was the door knob to Barton's door. She had ripped half of it from its hold and the other half had clattered to the floor before. Her fist was tightening around it as the rage only continued to grow. _How dare he! How dare he say such things to me! Ugh! Men! _She jumped up from the bed and crossed to her large window. Sliding it open she hurled the knob out into the night. Sure, it was going to hit someone, their car, or whatever, but she didn't care. With a furious cry she spun around and was ready to tear him another new one, but she stopped. Her eyes fell on the open door of her closet. On the back was the garment bag containing her gown for the party happening in just a week. She growled in fury. She would just have to fly solo, but that was alright with her if Barton chose to behave the way he had just then. Turning, she fell back onto her bed belly-first and stared at her bedroom door. Light was trickling in through the crack. No, the light was not shining through the crack beneath the door, but the crack running along almost its entire length. She had slammed the door so hard it was now broken.

She growled again.

_Fan-freaking-tastic._

**A/N Draaaaaamaaaaa : ) **

**This ones for you, darkangel! You with your sixth sense that something bad was going to happen. You were right!**


	25. Alls Fair

**A/N Thanks for the reviews! You know how much I love them, right? Why don't you all give yourselves a round of applause! –claps hands in O formation-**

**Rhodey's in this chapter guys! Now, I know the actor who plays him is only like five-eight or nine, but I feel he should be just a little bit taller, so pardon my changing his stature.**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Alls Fair**

Little was sitting on the edge of her bed in her bathroom, staring at the garment bag hanging on her closet door. The party would be starting shortly. _Very _shortly. She had already heard several people arrive on the floor above them. Her sensitive ears had picked up the sounds of her comrades getting ready. Romanoff and Rogers were already upstairs. She smirked at the thought that they were each other's dates. If a person stood too long in the same room as those two you could feel the tension that was well underway in growth. A sigh passed her lips. She was going alone. That wasn't an entirely bad thing, though, right? Barton _had _been totally unfair and rude about it all. He had hinted at accusing her of cheating on him and with _Banner! _The thought alone could have made her laugh under any other circumstances. Banner was like a brother or a father to her! Her interest in him stopped at him being someone she could talk to. Not once had she ever imagined what it would be like should she suddenly become aroused and he would take her on the lab table or some shit like that. Little closed her eyes hard against the mental image. It didn't even look right in her own _head._ Barton was crazy if he thought she would go for a guy like Banner. He was nice, sweet, and a good listener, but, as superficial as it was, he had neither the looks nor the body type she fancied.

With a sigh she stood and crossed over to the bag on the door. She unzipped it and pulled her dress out. It truly was lovely. An evil grin came to her face. Barton would want to take this off of her, or so she hoped. Now he wouldn't get the chance. The evil presence moved from her smile to her eyes. _Payback's a bitch, ain't it, Barton?_ With that thought she set the gown down on her bed and left the room to head over to Banner's.

She knocked three times. "Bruce?"

The door opened to reveal that Banner was almost ready for the party. He had on his slacks and white shirt with the unfinished tie hanging around his neck. Just passed him she could see his jacket thrown carelessly on the bed. He looked her over. Her hair and makeup was done, but she was in a bathrobe. "Yes, Jo?"

She gave him a small smile. "I told you what Barton said to me." She simply _refused _to call him Clint now. "And I was hoping you might help me."

Banner's brow rose. "I don't think I should get in the middle of this. I did cause it, after all."

Her lips pursed in a hard line. "No. He caused this by being a Class A prick about it instead of just talking to me. I was hoping since neither of us have dates I could mash Barton's face in his mess a little further by being _your _date. No coupley stuff, just me on your arm instead of his." She looked at him with almost pleading eyes. "Please, Bruce, I really feel like making this point."

He sighed and nodded. "Alright, but only if you know how to tie a freaking tie."

Little laughed and reached up to fix the bow tie about his neck. "My mom showed Kileigh and me how to do it. She said that there was a higher chance of our guys _not _being able to tie their own ties than them being able to." She gave it a little tug and made sure it was straight before nodding. "There yah go. Now, I'm going to go and finish getting ready. I just have to put on my dress and shoes. Oh! And Ember's bow."

Banner made a face. "Her…bow?"

"Yep. Stark said if she's going to follow me around at the party she needs to be dressed appropriately, so I got her a bow to match my dress."

The man just shook his head and watched her go.

In her room, Little patted the bed so that Ember would jump up beside her. She began to carefully tie the ribbon around the kitten's neck. "Now, don't go messing with this ribbon. It's very pretty and you can always wear it again if you like. At this party you'll be on your best behavior, am I understood? Good. Don't go fussing and pitching a fit if someone doesn't understand you. People aren't supposed to know that I know what you say. I'm just a lab assistant who brought you along because you have serious separation anxiety." She held the kitten up to her face. "Am I understood, Ember?"

Ember meowed in agreement and patted her mama's nose playfully with a paw.

Little smiled. "Good, now sit here while I finish getting ready." She picked up the dress and doffed her robe. Slipping into the dress made her smile. She simply loved how well it fit her. Sitting down, she pulled the shoebox on the floor closer to strap into her heels. She took back to her feet carefully. It had been a long time since she'd last worn heels, but she had been practicing for a whole week and soon her natural grace had taken over once more. The last thing she put on was a necklace they had rented from a jewelry store. Pepper had insisted that they look their absolute best since they were representing Stark openly and SHIELD and the Avengers secretly. She looked at herself in the mirror and shook her head with a smile. She didn't look like herself. She looked like a woman who went to galas and parties and attending thousand-dollar-a-plate dinners for charity. Giving into a moment of vanity she couldn't help but think that she looked amazing. After grabbing the last piece to her ensemble, she beckoned to Ember to follow her and headed out into the main room.

Banner's brows shot up and his eyes widened slightly. Holding out his elbow to her, he smiled. "You do look lovely."

An undignified meow sounded below them.

Looking down, the man smiled. "And you look pretty too, Ember." He bent to give her head a little pat.

Ember puffed up her little chest as they stepped into the elevator to head just one floor down.

Little smiled at him. "Thanks, Bruce. I can only hope that Barton thinks the same thing." In her mind she was plotting revenge, but in her heart she could only hope that the man who had upset her so much would get the courage to approach her and tell her she looked nice. She would take that: nice. It would be just enough to make her feel even the slightest bit better.

When the elevator doors slid open she felt like her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. This was a new kind of undercover that she wasn't used to. Little never put on masks of another person to get her information. She sat on windowsills as birds or mice. This was a new playing field for her. She was happy though when the room didn't turn around to look at them as they walked in. Plenty of people were right on time. Men were in their best tuxedos and women were in gown of all colors and styles. Little felt a little better that her dress might not stand out as much now as it was certainly a touch flashier than Romanoff's and Pepper's. She left herself smile as Bruce led them into the crowd and towards Stark and the others.

Barton was standing near the host as part of his cover as a body guard. When he saw Banner coming he was shocked to see he had a date. It wasn't until he truly recognized Little that his jaw literally dropped. She looked fantastic. Her short, bouncy curls were elongated. Her hair was straight down to her ears than the now thick spirals hung loose and free, only occasionally pinned with pins he couldn't see. Her makeup was simple, done in slightly smoky-eye effect with purple and thin black liner. It made her blue eyes stand out tremendously. Her lips were slightly darker than usual and shined with just a touch of gloss. If that wasn't enough to make him want to apologize her dress surely finished it off. The gown was strapless with a sweetheart neckline and hugged her figure before flaring out just below the knees. It was a medium hew of lavender with a pale lavender border at the top of sheer fabric that was bunched just right. The bodice of the dress was coated in sparkles that slowly began to disperse as they descended down the gown until only helter-skelter dime-sized clumps were left. Around her elbows was a dramatically long drape of the same color and material as the border at the top of the gown. The last thing he noticed was her neck. Around it was a simple, yet stunning diamond choker. It was the only piece of jewelry she wore. She looked…He couldn't even think of the right adjective that would describe just how amazing she looked.

Stark was beaming. "I knew Pepper would get you something appropriate! And now that everyone is hear I can make a quick announcement to just us. There are going to be reporters here. They always come to these sort of events if they're high enough on the food chain. There's a guy from the _Bugle _and _USA Today_ along with a few from some magazines like _US Weekly _and _Vanity Fair_. So, stick to your stories as if you've lived them your whole lives."

The group nodded and Stark allowed them to disperse.

Romanoff walked up to Little with a small smile. "You look great, Little."

She blushed slightly as Banner walked off for some reason or other. "Thanks. You look good too, and, I have to admit," she looked around the Russian to the tall, blonde man that was her date, "Rogers cleans up pretty well."

Romanoff smirked. "Yeah, he does."

Little looked her over with a knowing grin, but her eyes slid from her friend to Barton for a short moment before she looked back. She nonchalantly walked away so that she could get in a private word with Romanoff. "Do you think Barton likes this?"

The redhead looked over her with a small smile. "His eyes haven't left you since you guys showed up. What's the Banner, by the way? He your date?"

She smirked. "Yeah. I fully intend on mashing Barton's face in his mess. If he wants to accuse me of things that aren't true than I'm going to have my revenge."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Little's evil grin returned, but it was masked by a sweet voice so that none around would dare think she was plotting. "I plan on dancing with any gentleman who might ask me, ask a few to dance myself, but anytime Barton comes up to me I'll ignore him and strike up a conversation with the closest person willing to listen."

At her feet, Ember pawed at her dress and mewed.

Little glanced around before nodding to the kitten. "Jarvis will help."

Ember dashed towards the elevator and waited for the doors to open.

Romanoff raised a brow. "What was that about?"

"Ember had to use the little kitty's box. It's a shame I can't openly talk to her tonight. It was nice of Stark to let me bring her and all bu—"

A young man, probably their age, walked up to them with a smile and a recorder in his hand. "Evening, ladies. I'm Joseph Guile with _People Magazine _wondering who you are and what your relations with Stark are."

Romanoff smiled and held out a hand. The act was on. "Natalie Rushman. I'm Miss Potts' personal assistant, this is my coworker, Kaleigh Little, another personal assistant at Stark Industries."

Joseph nodded. "MmHmm. Tell me, Miss Little, who do you work for?"

_How does Natasha do this so easily? _"Stark recently hired a new head for R&D. He's my superior."

"A new head? Who's he?"

Little looked through the crowd and pointed out Doctor Banner. "That's him over there."

Guile was insatiable. He asked them a few more question about Stark Industries before thanking them and asking one final question.

"So, tell me, who are you wearing?"

The girls openly smirked. It was obvious he cared more about the business aspect of the questioning than the fashion, but that's what he gets for working for a magazine like _People. _They happily answered his question before he wandered off to ask more people about their doings and who they were wearing.

Little smiled at Romanoff. "One down, who knows how many more to go?"

The redhead looked around the room. "Well, I'm counting seven other noticeable journalists, but you never know who might ask you a question or two."

"Right. So, I was wonde—"

Little just had no luck finishing sentence that night!

A middle-aged man with slightly graying temples and an air of authority and wealth approached the women. He gave Little a small smile. "Care to dance, Miss?"

The raven-haired woman winked at her friend. "And so it begins." She smiled at the man. "I'd love to."

There were others on the floor dancing to the smooth music. It was quickly decided that this floor was the calm and collected floor whereas the penthouse would be where the heavier music and drinking would be found. Little let the man lead her onto the floor where she kept a respectable distance from him as they moved. Her inner agent was taking mental notes on everything he said. He was a wealthy business man who owned so many buildings and had branches in this country or that country. It was information she would lock away should the need ever arise, but it was boring her practically to tears. When the song was over she smiled and dipped in her best attempt to seem like she knew what she was doing.

The night continued just like that. The occasional man would ask her to dance as she chatted easily with Romanoff, Pepper, or even some other woman or group that caught her interest. Every time she would agree to the dance and as they moved on the floor she would glance around carefully to see if Barton was still in the same room. For many of the dances he was. A small grin would come to her face and she'd make sure he would see her smiling or laughing at something each man said. Yes, she knew it was wrong to play a game like this, but she wanted to make a point. He had hurt her with his words and now she would hurt him with her actions. Alls fair in love and war.

It was during a period that she wasn't dancing when he finally approached her. They were still on the more relaxed floor of the party, but the dull noise of two stories above them could be heard. Barton walked up to her and when they made eye contact he dipped his head slightly in a nod. "Kaleigh."

She was sitting on a barstool with one leg crossed over the other and a drink in her hand. Ember was sitting at the foot of the stool and looking up at Daddy with her big blue eyes that begged for him to pick her up and complement her pretty bow. The kitten has grown to adore her new possession since anyone who noticed a cat was following the blue-eyed beauty around told her that she was absolutely adorable and precious. Those were the few human words she could recognize aside from her name and some simple commands. It was still nothing like the way she understood Mama, but hey, a cat can't have it all.

Little looked him over and tried not to let her inner wants show. He was clean shaven, but had left that sexy stubble on his upper lip and chin. God, she loved that…That, and he looked absolutely amazing in a tuxedo. What should wouldn't give to push that jacket off his shoulders and…Little blinked slowly, ridding her mind of the sudden mental image. He pissed her off, but that wouldn't stop her from daydreaming. "Barton." She took a deep breath through the nose and caught a whiff of alcohol. He had probably had a strong drink or two by then.

Something flashed through his eyes. Hurt. Hurt was evident on his composed face. He didn't like the way his last name sounded on her lips. He was supposed to be Clint to her, not Barton. He cleared his throat. "You look amazing."

Her emotionless face didn't change. "Thank you."

_Time for a shot in the dark_. "Would you like to dance?"

It was like she pricked his skin just enough to hurt with an imaginary blade.

"No."

Barton watched as she sipped at her drink and looked out over the crowd. He was at a loss. Oh, he knew she was doing this to get back at him, but he wasn't sorry enough to apologize and beg her forgiveness. He had made his point. She did spend too much time with Banner and he refused to think otherwise. Now she was just being petty about the argument. What was worse was that it was working…He continued to stand there in silence beside her as a tall black man walked up. The man was dressed in military finery and had a confident, but not overbearing way about him. Barton recognized him from reports Romanoff had done while undercover at Stark Industries. It was Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes.

Rhodes approached them with a small smile and tipped a nod to Little. "I see you're talking, Miss, but I was wondering if you'd care to dance?"

Barton's eye twitched when she smiled and held out a hand.

"Gladly."

He watched as Rhodes led her out onto the floor and began to move with her.

The military man looked down at her. "I thought you might need saving. It looked like he was getting on your nerves."

Little smiled. "Thank you, Rhodes." _Shit! _She wasn't supposed to know who he was.

He grinned a brilliantly white smile. "Anytime," his voice dropped to a whisper, "Agent Kaleigh Little."

Her eyes widened.

He nodded his head. "Don't worry, you haven't been compromised. Stark told me you guys would be here tonight. That, and I've got some pretty high security clearance. That's not the point, though, I honestly did just try and save you."

Little looked over her shoulder at Barton who had a new drink in his hand. She sighed and shook her head. "Thanks, it wasn't all that bad. In fact, you helped me piss him off further."

Rhodes' brow rose. "Meaning?"

She smirked slightly. "He's my boyfriend. Just recently he decided to bitch at me for spending time with Doctor Banner, who's my closest friend on the team. He accused me of possibly cheating on him. You could say I didn't take that very well."

"To be fair, were you cheating on him?"

She huffed. "No. Banner's like a big brother to me. I have absolutely no feelings for him that go any further than friendship. So, I'm taking tonight to try and stick it to Barton as best I can."

He nodded. "I'd hate to be him right now."

She smirked. "But he'd sure love to be you. You walked up not long after I refused his request to dance."

Rhodes just laughed before spinning her out and back to the music. "So, tell me, you were never supposed to be part of the big team. What happened?"

She frowned. "I was there when Loki killed Coulson. I could've stopped it from happening, but I didn't. Coulson died because I didn't step up. I had a right to avenge his death as much as any of us and Fury knew that. When we were getting ready to go the Captain just sort of initiated me into the group."

Rhodes smiled. "I saw some of the footage from what happened. You're a force to reckon with, if you ask me. So, is it only animals or can you become people too?"

Little smiled and shook her head. "This is my only human form, but so long as the animal has a backbone I can do it." She nodded over to the stool she had vacated where her beloved Ember was sitting. "That kitten over there is my little girl, Ember. She was a gift from Stark when we all moved in. I can talk to animals, too. She's a sweetheart."

He looked over at the kitten with the sparkly purple bow that matched Little's dress. She was watched her owner dance across the floor with intelligent eyes. He had never seen such knowing eyes on a cat before. She seemed smart than your average cat just by looking at her. He smiled. "She's cute."

The woman was about to laugh and thank him, but something caught her eye. Across the room there was a blonde woman in a dress with a slit so high it would probably even make Tony Stark blush. In Little's mind she was painted up like a cheap three-dollar hooker. Now, a woman like this would usually just a disapproving frown from her, but this one was doing the one thing that pissed her off. Blondie was leaning against a man who was leaning against the bar. The man she happened to be leaning on was Barton. What really bothered her was that one of his hands was sitting a little too low on Blondie's backside for comfort while Blondie ran her hands up his chest, a flirtatious grin on her too-red lips. Fake nails drew a line along his jaw and his hand went up her arm.

Little stopped dancing and started glaring.

Rhodes followed her line of sight and grimaced. "Well, it looks like two are playing your ga—Kaleigh?"

The raven-haired woman was stomping across the floor, her heels clicking viciously as she went. When she was upon the handsy couple she grabbed the blonde by her shoulder and yanked her off and away from Barton. She glared up at the woman since the blonde was quite a bit taller than her. "Get _off _of _my _boyfriend. Now." Venom dripped from her lips as she spoke.

Blondie returned the glare. "If he's your man than why was he all alone while you've been dancing with every other guy at this shindig, huh?"

Barton spoke up. "Kaleigh, Christine, chill."

Recognition flashed through the smaller woman's eyes at the second name. Christine? As in Christine Everhart? She had to be. This had to be the woman who had done spread on Stark before. She had to be the _Vanity Fair _reporter Stark mentioned earlier. Instead of calming down, she heated up even more. "Why do you find it necessary to try and get into every man's pants at this shindig, huh?"

They glared daggers at one another.

"What did you say, _bitch_?"

Barton's face paled slightly. That was a bad choice on Christine's part to call her that.

People were beginning to stop and watch the catfight. Word had quickly gotten upstairs about the situation and the rest of the Avengers were now amongst the group, ready for crowd control should something bad happened. Reporters were at the front of the group starting to gather, ready with recorders and cameras. Everyone had a feeling shit was about to go down.

Little narrowed her bright eyes at the woman. "What did you call me?"

Christine smirked her red lips. "I called you a bitch." She took a step back when she heard a loud growl coming from the same direction as the black haired woman. Was that coming from _her? _

Barton stepped up to Little. "Calm down, Kaleigh."

She shoved him away from her. "No! I will not calm down! Not after watching you put your hands all over this…this…this _slut!_" The last word came out more as a snarling growl that an insult.

And suddenly, screaming.

Christine Everhart was pressed against the bar, screaming like a banshee while on the brink of possibly fainting from terror. The group behind the arguing women was surging towards the elevator aside from the few ballsy reporters who had cameras. They wanted to be certain that they got the evidence that a petite woman had just turned into a large black bear that was roaring a challenge at the wailing reporter.

Barton rushed in, whatever haze or buzz he had from the drinks was long gone now. He stepped boldly between the bear and the woman, holding his hands up. "Kaleigh! Kaleigh, calm down!" His efforts went unnoticed as she swatted him aside like a bothersome fly.

That's when it hit her. The sound in her ears wasn't the profanities she was hearing in her head. No, she heard a monstrous roaring. Still on her hind legs, Little turned and looked at the terrified faces of those who were looking over their shoulder and pushing for the staircase and elevator. She turned and saw Barton holding his head and side as he got to his feet. Her eyes hit the floor and she saw the beautiful diamond necklace laying there. Jewelry was the one thing that didn't remain a part of her when she shifted. The clasp had broken, but the necklace itself remained unharmed. Her eyes cast around the room before turning back on the frightened Christine. She huffed and growled before shifting back. She was looking around in terror. She wasn't used to this. At the school her gifts were applauded. In SHIELD her powers were useful and respected. During the battle she remembered people looking upon her with awe. Yet this—this endless terror—was impossible to bear. Shaking her now mussed curls she ran over to a window and threw it open. Sirens assailed her ears. Someone had called the police. Without looking back she hiked up her gown and leapt out the window.

Barton was on his feet and leaning out the window. "Kaleigh!"

He watched her fall for a story or two before turning into an owl and flapping off through the skies above Manhattan. His heart was pounding in his chest. _Where the hell is she going?_

There was a bigger issue to think about, though. In the next few days articles all over the news, internet, and print would out Kaleigh for what she was.

**A/N Massive, huge, big ass props to KD Skywalker who put the idea into my head to bring Everhart into this. Thanks!**

**Like it? Love it? Review it!**


	26. Lock Down

**A/N So, yeah, here's another chapter! Also, I'm done trying to sugar coat the whole her once being part of the X-Men. Do you guys _really _care? I mean _really?_ **

**A shorter chapter than the last few.**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Lock Down**

Stark took care of the police and news crews that were arriving on set. He was a master at keeping the news hounds at bay with sweet little tidbits of information that would satisfy them enough to at least question the details about how everything happened. The one thing he couldn't do, though, was deny it had happened at all. Too many people had watched as Agent Little shifted into a large bear and raised hell. People on the streets below had seen a woman falling in a shimmering gown only to become a bird and fly off into the night. All he could do was admit that it had happened, but he never said a name. He would admit there was a mutant at the party and he would admit what she had done, but he wouldn't tell them her name. The reporters from the party might know her by name, but he refused to spread it any further. When they had all dispersed, the billionaire went up to the penthouse where the rest of the team was sitting, waiting. Well, all except Barton. Stark looked out onto the balcony.

Barton was standing there in the cold night air without a coat. He had removed his jacket and tossed his tie off the balcony as though the balled up piece of fluttering fabric held his emotions. It didn't. He was glaring out at the city below as the police drove away from the base of the Tower. His eyes scanned the skies for any sign of her returning, but it was all for naught. Little was gone. She had literally flown the coop.

A sigh left his lips in a breath of white fog as he turned on his heel to go back inside. He had played with the idea of going after her and trying to find her, but that was an act of sheer folly. What was he going to do? Grab every animal he saw just to see if it had her eyes? And what if the animal did have blue eyes? How was he to know if it was her or just something natural? All they could do now was wait for her to come back or show up elsewhere. What weighed heavily on Barton's mind was that this was his fault. Thinking back on in, yes, Little had danced with any man who'd asked, but she had kept her distance. He couldn't remember a single partner she allowed to get even the slightest bit handsy. She had done it to irk him and to push him, but she hadn't pushed too far. _He _had pushed too far. When Everhart had approached him with that swaying walk and gleam in her eye he had figured she would be a good way to get back at Little. Bad idea. He thought Little might cause a bit of a scene and throw a small fit before stomping off to her room. He never imagined she would lose her temper to the point of shifting in front of civilians. Barton leaned heavily on the railing and looked out over the city. The cold December air bit at him, but he didn't feel it. His mind was too preoccupied with Little. He rubbed a hand over his face and winced slightly. A bruise was already beginning to form where his cheek had bounced off a table.

Ember was sitting on the couch beside Banner. She had stopped trembling in fear by now. The kitten had seen her mama become big animals before when she was training, but she had never seen her mama look so angry. It was scary and she was certain she may have to answer for a little piddle spot on the floor downstairs…She looked up at the good doctor who was stroking her head absently, aiding in her attempts to calm down. She leapt down from the couch and walked over to the door leading out onto the balcony. She could see Daddy standing out there, looking out over the city. Looking up at the ceiling she placed a paw on the door. It slid open. The kitten pranced outside with a little meow of thanks to the invisible human that Mama was always talking to. Her first instinct was to turn around and go back inside. It was cold! However, she kept going, jogging over to Barton and sitting by his feet. Ember tilted back her little head and meowed up at the man to get his attention.

Barton looked down and couldn't help but smile. He knew that particular meow meant 'Daddy' in kitten-speak. Little had begun teaching him the subtle differences in one meow and another and what they might mean in case he should ever have to translate. God, if learning another _human_ language was hard, learning to understand Cat was freaking impossible. Bending, he picked up the kitten and looked at her eyes. In the light of the moon they were the exact same color as Little's. He shook his head and turned on his heel. It was time to go back inside. She wasn't coming back anytime soon by his reckoning so why freeze to death in the process of waiting? Once inside he looked around the group of people sitting on the couches, but said nothing. He went to the stairs and made his way down a level and to his room to retrieve his quiver and bow. He needed to think.

Before he went down to the range he walked down the hall to Little's room. Pushing the door open he inhaled deeply. The room smelled like her. It was a plain smell, but a nice one. Clean and fresh without a trace of air fresheners or perfumes usually found in women's rooms. He walked over to the wall where she had placed from hooks. A coat hung off one, her bandana hung off another. What caught his eye, though, was the middle hook. From it hung the necklace her sister had returned to her when she had visited. He picked up the medallion and ran a thumb over the initials. Flipping it over, he ran a thumb over the black paw there. For the umpteenth time that night a sigh escaped his lips. Turning his back on the necklace and dropping the kitten onto the bed, he slung is bow over his shoulder and walked out.

Rogers watched the man go before turning his eyes upon the others in the group. No one had spoken since Stark returned with the good news that the cops were gone and they could relax. _Relax?_ _Yeah_, _right_…He took a shot in the dark. "So, what's Fury going to have to say about all of this? She's out, now, right?"

"He's going to be pissed. She may be his favorite, but this isn't something even that can sure. When Fury's pissed all hell breaks lose." All eyes turned to the redhead speaking. "The worst I could imagine him doing is kicking her out of SHIELD, off the Avengers, and sending her back to live with the other mutants. She'd hate that so it would be the perfect punishment."

Pepper frowned. "Can he do that? Just end it all for her like that?"

Stark looked at his girlfriend like she had grown a second nose. "Pepper, he's _Nick Fury_, of course he can do that!"

The doctor was listening to the conversation in silence. It wouldn't be fair of Fury to give Little the boot. She wasn't the only one on the team who could turn volatile and scare the living hell out of a room of people. If Fury gave her the boot, he would leave and refuse to come back. No act of persuasion would make him leave wherever he would go. He got to his feet. "I'm going to bed."

There was a quiet response of 'good night' and 'see yah' from the group, but nothing worth remembering.

Banner jogged down the stairs to the floor below. When he stepped out he found Ember sitting on the couch looking rather depressed. "Ember?"

Her head popped up and she meowed at him, but she knew he didn't understand. That didn't matter; she continued to talk to the man as though he were her mama and could understand it all. She wanted her mama back to hold her and tell her everything was alright. Instead, she settled for the human who couldn't understand her in the slightest to listen to her pitiful mewling.

Banner walked over to her and scooped her up. He smiled as she purred and nestled her face against his chest. "Everything will be alright, Ember. You'll see."

Everything was _not _alright.

Morning came at the Tower sooner than anyone would like to admit.

Jarvis was waking everyone up and ordering them to report to the penthouse immediately.

Rogers, Romanoff, Barton, and Banner took the elevator upstairs. The captain and the spy were wide awake, used to getting up early since neither of them had taken to sleeping in with their newfound freedom, but the other two looked ragged from sleepless nights. They both yawned on the short trip in the lift. Hell, Banner was still in his pajamas of cotton pants and an old tee shirt. However, when the doors to the lift slid open they woke up pretty quickly.

Nick Fury was standing in all his terrifying glory in the center of the floor. On the coffee table before him was a stack of newspaper and a couple magazines. Stark was already awake and standing nearby. He had already made the sarcastic quip about Fury's apparent obsession with subscribing to too many things at one time. The man wasn't amused. He watched with one dark eye as the others sat in the same seats they had vacated about eight hours previously. When they were settled he looked them all down. "Where is Agent Little?"

Romanoff was the first to speak. "We don't know, Sir."

Barton hopped on in. "She jumped out a window and flew away. She hasn't been back all night."

"Fine, than we'll begin without her." He tossed each one of them a newspaper or magazine. On all of them the front page image was either of Little or a bear, on some there was a split image of both. The headlines glared out at them.

_"Mutant Makes Party Un-BEAR-able!"_

_ "A Kodiak Moment"_

_ "The BEAR Necessities of Life!"_

_ "Stark's Wildest Party Yet!"_

_ "Stark's LITTLE Issue!"_

_ "Black Bear, Black Bear, What Do You See?"_

_ "Kaleigh Little, Mutant: Friend or Foe?"_

Stark could've laughed at the ridiculous headlines had this not been about one of his friends. Instead, they looked through the articles. All off them had pictures of a pretty black-haired woman in a shimmering purple gown beside the image of a towering, roaring black bear. The articles all said the same thing: The Stark party was all fine and dandy until two women got into an argument and one suddenly turned into a bear. This wasn't good. In almost every article the woman's name could be found. What was worse was that they all painted her in a bad light, claiming that she actually attacked the _Vanity Fair _reporter. This _really _wasn't good.

Barton threw his paper aside after finishing the article. "This is bullshit! That's not how it happened!"

Romanoff nodded. "She never laid a…a…_paw _on Everhart. The only person she took a swing at was Barton. Which wasn't even men—Wait." Her eyes went back to the article and she frowned. "Oh, yeah, there is it. _A man tried to save Everhart, only to get the full force of its attack. _Jeez, they make it sound like Little killed him or something." She set her magazine down. "God, I hate the press."

Fury was looking over them all. "The point isn't how bad it makes her look, the point it that she let something like this happen. What I want to know is _why_ this happened."

Both Banner and Barton suddenly looked very sheepish.

Romanoff pursed her lips. "Barton and Little got into a fight last week. At the party she made to make him jealous. He played her ga—"

"You mean to tell me that this happened over a lover's _quarrel_?"

Sheepish head nodding.

Fury lost it. "Everything here, her identity, her powers, and quite possibly her employment at SHIELD are all at risk because she's fighting with her _boyfriend! _You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me, people! I swear when that wom—"

"I believe you're talking about me, Director."

Every head in the room snapped up and around to find the source of the voice.

Agent Little was standing just inside the doorway. Her beautiful dress had a tear in the skirt that could never be mended and the bottom edge was tattered. The sheer border at the top hung loose in three different places. Some patches of the sparkles that had encased the bodice of the dress were gone. It was needless to say her dress was ruined, and by the way it pooled at her feet made it obvious her shoes were long gone. Her hair that had been so neatly done stuck up in several places and there looked to be a leaf or two entangled in the curls. Dirt was smeared across her face and a lack of sleep was evident upon her features. She looked horrible.

Fury pointed to the spot in front of him. "Agent Little, get your _ass _over here."

She stepped up to him, head held high and feet steady. "Yes, Sir?"

He glared at her with lips pursed in a tight line for a good thirty seconds before he began. "Agent Little, you are hereby suspended _indefinitely_! You will report back to SHIELD Headquarters _immediately. _The only reason you aren't fired is because you didn't reveal being a SHIELD agent last night. You were never supposed to be here, Agent Little, and now you won't be. Your time as an Avenger is _over_."

Her composure fell as her head dropped.

Barton was on his feet. "Sir! That's completely unfair!"

"Can it, Barton! You're too close to this and since we can the Blame Game here, part of this is _your_ fault!"

Stark walked up. "Woah, woah, woah! Wait a minute, here, Nick. Don't be so hasty."

A dark eye turned an evil glare on the speaker.

The billionaire held up his hands. "Look, I'm just sayin' that taking her back might not be the best idea. Think about it, think about her past. What happened the last time she was stripped of everything like that? Yeah, she spent time trying to get back into everyone's good graces, but eventually jumped ship when a better offer came along."

"What's your point, Stark?"

He put his hands behind his back and got a rather pompous look about him. "You know there's a group of bad mutants—mutants who have a special kind of hatred for humans—who would probably love to have Little on their side what with her skills and all her knowledge of SHIELD. You cut her off like you mean to who says she isn't going to join up with them the first chance she gets? Certainly they wouldn't deny her since by then she'll be holding a nasty grudge against SHIELD, the Avengers, _and _the School for Gifted Youngsters."

Fury turned his eye on Little. "I dare you to say you agree with anything he says."

Her lips pursed as she stayed silent. Speaking was a bad idea at this point.

The room was deathly silent as Fury pondered this. Little was a good agent—a _great _agent—but she had crossed a line. He rolled his shoulders and stood at his full height. "Agent Little, you are _still_ suspended indefinitely. However, you are no longer required to return to HQ. Instead, you will be here on lock-down. No leaving the tower. Hell, you aren't allowed to go any further than the three designated floors Stark had for you all. You will not leave this tower, ever. Am I understood, Agent Little?"

She squared her shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "Yes, Sir."

With a flourish of his long trench coat the SHIELD director stormed out of the room. Sadly, his fury became almost laughable as he waited for the elevator and make a rather slow exit from there.

The others all watched as Barton walked up to Little and tried to put his hands on her shoulders. "Kaleigh, I'm so—"

She stepped back and glared at him. "No. _No. _You do _not_ call me that. Not ever." She brushed past him and—in a rather immature—move she bumped her shoulder against him, forcing him aside. "We're through." Silently, she bent and picked up each newspaper and magazine that had her name or face, human or not, gracing the front page. When they were all collected she stomped over to the stairwell and made a rather noisy exit.

Stark watched her go while speaking to Jarvis. "Alright, you heard the man, J. She doesn't leave those three floors." He cast a glance around at the others. "But."

Every eye looked at him.

"Should she, oh, I dunno, just happen to open a window and get out you shouldn't worry about telling us."

_"Understood, Sir."_

Rogers was on his feet. "Stark, that's completely disobeying Fury's orders."

The man raised a brow. "Following orders isn't exactly my style."

They stared each other down for a few moments, both flashing back to the first time a similar conversation had struck up between the two.

Rogers broke first. "Fine, but if anything happens it's on _your_ head."

Banner stood suddenly. "Now that that's settled I'm going to the lab."

It was as though nothing had even happened. The day returned to normal, the only difference was Little staying shut up in her room like a grounded teenager. She had changed from her ruined dress into jeans and a fitted tee and was now sprawled out on her stomach with the proof of her actions from the night before in front of her eyes. She glared down at them. She had already read each article to find they were all the same save a quote here or there. Her eyes squeezed shut against their glaring images.

_"…attacked an innocent Christine Everhart of Vanity Fair…"_

A growl came from her throat. _She is _not _innocent…_

_ "…mauled a man trying to defend Everhart…"_

_ Please! I barely laid a paw on him! He's got a bruise!_

_ "…mutant menace must be stopped."_

_ I am not a menace._

_ I am not a monster._

_ I am not what they say I am._

Little rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. In her heart she knew that nothing she ever did from this day forth could undo what she had done. She could save the planet single handedly and people would still look at her and remember the time she turned into an angry bear at a Christmas party. That mark would never be wiped clean. She sighed. Shouldn't she at least get a chance to clear the air, though? If only that were possible…

"_Mrrow!_"

She tilted her head to the side to see two big blue eyes staring at her. A smile came to her face. "Hey, baby."

Ember jumped onto the bed next to her mama and nestled close. With a meow she asked about the night before and why she was so angry as Daddy.

Little sighed and stroked the kitten's head lovingly as she slowly began to explain herself and her actions. Strangely enough, it was the hardest thing she had ever done. Sitting there with those knowing blue eyes staring back at her made it difficult to feel angry and petty.

The kitten listened to her mama, but barely understood the intricacies of what she meant. All that mattered to her was that her mama was unhappy and that made her unhappy. Closing her eyes, Ember snuggled up to her mama's chin and began to purr loudly in an attempt to cheer her up. In the back of her mind she thought about running up to Daddy and giving him a piece of her little mind. Ember sighed. She would if she could, but he wouldn't understand her. She'd settle for scratching him the next time they crossed paths. Yeah, a nasty scratch would teach him!

**A/N You know, I've been looking back at the reviews and I can't stop smiling. Because of you guys I've gotten more reviews than I have on any other story. Because of your amazing reviews I smile and can't wait to write the next chapter just to see what you guys say! Especially to those of you who write those long and glowing reviews that just shine with happiness and warmth. **

**I love you guys!**


	27. Fair Trade

**A/N Well, after some time at the pool, feeding my latest addiction to a television series, chatting with my best friend, and bothering my cat I finally sat down to my laptop to write ^_^ **

**I don't own Harry Potter…though I wish I did….**

**And back to another long chapter!**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Fair Trade**

Wednesday afternoon found Little sitting on the couch with her knees curled up to her chest and her eyes glued to the television. Pepper had thrust Stark towards the podium to give a short announcement as far as his "mutant problem" went. The whole point behind this was to get the press away from Stark Industries for hiring a…a…_monster. _The word alone was enough to make the bile rise in Little's throat. She pushed back the desire to maul the first reporter or journalist who had ever used that word against her. Now was not the time to go rampaging. With a sigh she turned her attention back to the screen.

_"…and I assure you that—due to the incidents at the party—Miss Little is no longer an employee here at Stark Industries. She is living where her _kind _is welcome and should no longer pose an issue with my company. Thank you, that is all for today."_

She let out a relieved sigh. So long as no one—

_"Mr. Stark! What about the man she supposedly mauled?"_

asked any questions…

She watched as Stark held his composure like a champ.

_"That man is sitting in the security office as we speak with little more than a bruise on his cheek." _He leaned on the podium in that nonchalant Tony Stark way. _"Anyway, I'm sure all of you _reporters _know how the media often blow the details way out of proportion, am I right?"_

Little grabbed the nearest thing to her—Ember—and held on tight.

_"Sir! Is Kaleigh Little an Avenger? Rumors of a woman turning into animals during the fight were circulating for a time."_

Her breath caught in her throat.

Stark was laughing. _Laughing! "HA! Absolutely not! Miss Little was simply an intern that my head of R&D chose to be his personal assistant. We had no idea what she really was, since most of her kind tends to keep their abilities under wraps. Now, since all the important things are settled, I have work to get back to." _He threw up the peace sign and made his exit.

Little smiled at the screen after turning it off. _Thanks, Stark. _She would be certain to tell him that when she saw him, but for now the mental gratitude was enough for her. Holding Ember close she got to her feet and went to the nearest window. The sky was pale grey with cloud cover and she could tell by the way the trees planted along the streets were bending that it was a decently windy day. _A perfect day to fly_. She frowned and snuggled the kitten closer to her. Windy days were her favorite to take to the skies what with the gusts of wind pushing her faster or lifting her higher. She hadn't been outside since she had returned to the Tower early Saturday morning and it was killing her. Even when she couldn't shift she had made a habit of getting fresh air everyday by taking to the balcony or heading downstairs to go for a short walk around the block. This was cruelty. One could argue that it was animal cruelty. She had just regained the ability to shift and now the real freedom of it was taken from her.

She turned about and looked around the recreational area with its ping pong table, billiards table, massive television and a huge shelf of movies and gaming consoles. Normally she would have loved to spend all day in the room watching movies to kicking butt at pool, but today was not that day. It was empty and eerily so. Barton and Romanoff had been called away two days ago for a mission and had yet to return. Their arrival date was unknown to her since she no longer had that sort of clearance to ask. She missed the redhead since she was just about the only other woman to talk to in the area aside from her cat. Oh, Pepper was nice, but she was in and out constantly and most of the time she seemed to be dealing with company matters. Rogers? Why bother wasting thought time on him? Banner? She frowned. Her friend spent so much time in the lab and she wasn't allowed to go down there anymore. In the evenings they spent some time chatting about how much he'd done that day and how little she had. Her stomach turned as she threw herself a mental pity party. It had only been a little over four days and the depression was already kicking in. Four days! She could hardly imagine what it would do to her to be like this _indefinitely_. She huffed. Even being stuck in med-bay wasn't as horrid as this.

_"Mr. Stark, Agent Little."_

Her head snapped up from where she was inspecting a slight smudge on the glass table-top of the coffee table to see the swarthy man sauntering over to her with a smile on his face.

"Catch the statement?"

Little smiled slightly. "Yeah, thanks. Hopefully this'll squash things for now."

He nodded and tossed an arm around her, steering her over to the elevator. "Absolutely. Now, there was something I've been meaning to talk to you all about. I suppose I'll have to talk to Romanoff and Barton later, but hey, I can tell you now." The doors slid shut.

Little turned a wary eye on him. "What's it about?"

The doors slid open as they got to the Suite Floor. "Oh, about the living situation, but you know what? I just realized that I've got some reports to look over. We'll just have to talk about it later." He practically shoved her out of the elevator.

She turned a glare on him. "Stark!"

The last thing she saw was the smirk on his face. She punched the lift doors before feeling a sudden burst of cold wind. A gasp left her as Ember snuggled closer to her mama's chest. If she felt the wind, that meant…Little turned her head to find that one of the windows was propped open so that Jarvis couldn't shut it without breaking the window. The screen was removed and sitting on the floor. As if it were a trap, she carefully approached it to look outside. Another burst chilly wind hit her face and the rosy transformation on her cheeks and nose began. A smile, big and bright, came to her face.

"Jarvis?"

_"Yes?"_

"Why is this window open?"

_"I haven't a clue what you're talking about, Agent Little."_

Excitement began to bubble within her. "Did Stark do this?"

_"Agent Little, you know that Stark and the others are under orders to keep you inside the building."_

By now she was grinning like a maniac. "But Stark doesn't like following orders." She turned on her heel and ran to her room. She tossed Ember gently down on the bed before throwing open her closet door. First, she changed completely out of her pajamas and into street-wear. She pulled on her favorite pair of dark wash hip-hugger jeans and a v-neck long-sleeved pale blue top. Over it all she pulled on a dark red zip-up hoodie. After putting on her sneakers and grumbling at how uncomfortable shoes can be, she went back out into the main room. She almost feared that the window would have been set back to rights in the short minutes she was away from it, but no, it was still open and letting cold air into the room. Little placed her hands on the sill and was lifting a foot when she heard the lift open. She froze as though not moving would shield her from their eyes. Banner and Rogers stepped out onto the floor discussing something that Little didn't catch at first. They hadn't seen her…yet.

Rogers felt a cold chill as he talked about the Super Soldier program he had been in. He had indulged in Banner's curiosity when the man promised he wouldn't try to recreate the serum. His head popped up. "Did someone leave a win—Little!" He began to cross the room in long strides.

Little shifted into a bird and flapped her wings as fast as she could to put distance between herself and the now fuming captain.

The blonde man was hanging out of the window, watching her fly off into the distance with no way of stopping her. He clenched a fist and felt the bar that was being used to prop open the window. "Damn it! Now she's gone and we have no way of tracking her down! She could be running away right now! " To hell with what Stark had said on Saturday. He was bound and determined not to let the woman out.

Banner watched the man's back with a brow raised as he felt something small press against his leg. Looking down, he saw Ember sitting there with her blue eyes wide and questioning. He stooped and picked her up. "She'll be back, Steve. Don't worry."

The captain turned. "Oh, and what makes you so certain?"

He held the kitten up. "She'd never leave without Ember."

Ember purred and nuzzled her head against the underside of the doctor's chin. She liked Banner very much and had even taken to calling him Uncle Bruce when speaking with Mama about him. Her big blue eyes found the captain's as he approached. The man said something softly and carefully reached out a hand to pet her head. Thoughts and images flashed through Ember's mind. Mama's often made mean faces at this man. She spoke harshly about this man and they never seemed to get along. The kitten batted at the captain's hand with claws extended and coupled with a hiss.

Rogers pulled his hand back, inspecting the tiny little scratches on the back of his index and middle fingers. "This cat likes everyone!"

Banner tried not to laugh as he put the kitten down. "Not true. She doesn't like Stark that much, and obviously she doesn't like you. Now, why don't I go get that book and we can finish our discussion. I'll only be a moment."

The captain and kitten were left alone while Banner went to retrieve a book from his room. Rogers looked down at Ember and narrowed his eyes. "I'm watching you."

Her response was a nasty hiss before turning and running off down the hall.

Ember was watching him, too.

Meanwhile, Little was flapping her wings and soaring over the noisy city streets. If it was possible for a bird to smile she would've been. Instead, she let it all stay in her head. She flew through the busiest portions of the city before wheeling north and out of Manhattan. She crossed the water, dipping low to get a good smell of the water before shooting upwards and northeast. She continued to fly all around the large city and even into its less populated areas. As she flew at lamp-post height down a street she saw something that caused her to quickly wheel around to land on a post across the street. Somehow she had ended up in Westchester. Her little heart was pounding from the continuous flight and her bright eyes were locked on the sign ahead of her. Done up with flowers and looping script was a sign that read _A Little Touch of Spring_. Her sister was in there. Kicking off the post she fluttered over and landed on a window sill.

If she could have gasp, she would have. The shop was neat and tidy with beautiful flowers all over. And yellow. Lots of yellow. Little smiled mentally. That had always been Joann's favorite color. She saw a young woman, probably nineteen or twenty, behind the counter and reading a magazine. With a little tweet, Little started pecking at the window. She had the sudden urge to talk to her sister. If she could just get this girl's attention enough to bring out her sister…

The young woman looked up and found the cause of the noise. She quickly stood and went to the window, swatting at it lightly to get the bird to fly off. "Go on! Get!"

Little was persistent. She kept pecking before realizing that this wasn't going to help. She fluttered into a nearby alley and landing on a small pile of rubbish. Turning her head about to make sure no one was watching she shifted. Where the bird once stood there was now a medium sized dog with a slightly shaggy black coat and bright blue eyes. This breed was much smaller than the one she usually took on when in a fight. With her tongue lolling and playing the very part of a stray dog, Little went back to the shop door and pawed at it. When she caught the employee's eye, she barked.

Inside, the girl gave a little squeal. "Jo-Jo-Joann!"

From her spot outside, Little plopped her rump down and waited.

The door in to back opened and out stepped a petite woman with long, curly black hair. "What, Amy?"

Amy, the young employee, pointed to the door. "First a bird, now a dog!"

Recognition flashed through Joann's eyes. "I'll handle this." Without worrying about a coat, she pushed the door to the shop open and stepped into the chilling breeze. Looking down, she saw the dog was now in the play position. She frowned. "What do you want?"

Little barked at her sister before bounding back into the alley from earlier.

Joann sighed and followed. When she found her sister she was crouched behind a dumpster, newly shifted back into her human form with a hood covering most of her head and face.

Little stood and wrapped her arms around her sister. "Cli—Barton told me you came to see me when I was out. You gave me back my necklace. Look, I know I was a bitch. I know I always took the spotlight away from anything you ever did." She pulled away and locked eye with Joann. "I'm sorry, Kileigh. I really am."

Joann was staring at her in shock. She didn't know what to say. "I…Uh…Well." Something clicked. "I thought Barton was your boyfriend or whatever. Did that not work out?"

"He _was. _I broke up with him the other day because he pissed me off."

A light flashed through Joann's eyes. "So that's why you shifted at the party!"

Little scratched the back of her neck. "You heard about that?"

The green-eyed sister smirked. "Oh, I heard about it all right. I wasn't all that surprised. I mean, you always did lover to show off. You know, the whole mansion was ready to swoop in and take you outta there. I watched Stark's statement to the press today. He did good." A smirk came over Joann's face. "So…If you ended it with Barton, does that mean he's single?"

Little smacked her sister on the arm. "Hey! He may not be _my_ boyfriend but that doesn't mean he's back on the market yet! I'm waiting for him to realize the shit he did was wrong and get on his knees."

"Oh, Leigh, you're still a bitch." Joann was laughing, though, as she said this.

They laughed together for the first time in almost seven years.

Little smiled at her sister apologetically. "Look, I know we're never going to get over some stuff. I mean, I know you won't let it go that I broke your arm and I'm still mad you snapped my ankle, but can we at least stop being petty about it?"

Joann's lips tightened into a colorless line as she pondered her sister's words. Perhaps the hit on the head she had suffered had changed her mind on a few things. But Little was right, she would never forgive her sister for what she had done, but… "No. I don't think that's possible, Leigh."

"Kileigh! Stop being such a little brat and just accept me apology! Did you ever think _I'd_ be the one to say sorry first? Me?"

_Good point. _"Alright, we can stop being petty and forget about what happened…but that doesn't mean I'm forgiving you. I'm just going to get over it."

Little smiled. "Great. Now, if you need anything I live at the Stark Tower."

"And if you need anything you know where to go. I've gotta get back to work, Leigh. I'll see you around, maybe?"

"Maybe."

Joann walked off and was almost to the entrance of the alley when she turned back around. "I just _love_ your hair, by the way!"

She laughed as Little flipped her off before kicking off the ground and flying away as a little bird again. A sigh left the younger twin as she watched her sister fly away. That was definitely not how she expecting things to go the next time she saw her sister. She had been certain another fight would break out and more bones would be broken. As she walked back into the store she absently rubbed the once-broken arm before returning to her work of getting flowers to bloom way out of season.

Little continued to fly around New York, enjoying the day of freedom. She suddenly felt a pang in her stomach. Lunchtime. Little wheeled around and landed in a back alley where eyes couldn't see to shift. When she was human again she dug through her pockets and found a few crumpled bills. A smile came to her face as she counted thirteen dollars. Making sure the hood was pulled up on her jacket so that no one could notice her by chance, she walked the streets with her nose on high alert for anything that smelled good enough to sate her slightly growling stomach. A smile came to her face when the smell of freshly brewed coffee and pastries came to her nose. She followed the intoxicating aroma before realizing where she was. Shaking her head, she ignored the fact that she was standing outside of the same café that she and Barton had once gone to on a date of sorts. It was silly to think that it would matter. She was chilly and wanted a hot drink to warm up. Squaring her shoulders she reached for the handle an—

"Oh my God!"

"Shit! I'm sorry!"

Little's arms were spread out and her back was arched as she tried to not let her newly soaked clothes touch her skin. All she could think of was how hot the coffee that was covering her entire front. The guy had to of gotten the largest size the place offered!

The man looked shocked and afraid of the outburst he was certain she would soon unleash. "I'm sorry! I…Uh…"

She started laughing and smiled at him. She was in too good of a mood to be angry about this. "Well, I _was _cold, but that warmed me right up." When she looked up at the man she was surprised to find he was quite attractive in that common sort of way. He had short brown hair that looked as though he had tried to get it to cooperate and fine blue eyes. He was dressed plainly in a dark grey tee shirt, old looking jeans, and a hoodie. Over his shoulder he had what looked like a camera bag hanging there. Little looked down and unzipped her hoodie to shrug out of it. She laughed even harder. The coffee had soaked through the coat and her top. The pale fabric was now see-through and revealed her blue-and-white polka dotted bra.

The man's face went red. "Oh, well, uh…" A thought occurred. He shrugged out of his own jacket and handed it to her. "Here."

Little gave him a small smile as she pulled it on while tossing her hoodie in the trash. She'd do the same with her shirt when she got home seeing as how she would never be able to get a coffee stain _that _big out of it. As she pulled his coat on she got a sudden rush of scents that made her fight to not close her eyes and smile. Men's cologne and the smell of the city were mixed in that coat. Looking up at the man, she nodded to the café. "Mind if I replace your coffee seeing as how the only way you could drink what you bought is to lick it off me."

He stared at her, wide-eyed.

Little's face went red. "That came out wrong."

He chuckled slightly. "Maybe a bit. Look, how about I buy you the coffee since I spilled mine all over you."

She smiled. "Fair trade? I buy yours if you buy mine?"

He returned her smile. "Fair enough." Turning, he opened the door for her and watched her walk in. As they stood in the short line to order he offered a hand. "I'm Peter, by the way. Peter Parker."

Little smiled and took his hand. Her thoughts were suddenly racing. She knew who this guy was. SHIELD monitors all potential threats, right? "I'm—" she stopped. First name? Hell no! "Jo. Jo Little."

He looked her over. "Jo? If you're a guy, you make the most convincing woman."

She laughed and shook her head. "No, Jo is short for Joanna."

When it was their turn they ordered and paid for one another. Peter got their largest black coffee and Little got a medium coffee with some monkey bread. After paying in a manner than almost confused the girl working behind, they walked back over to the door.

Peter rubbed the back of his neck and shyly asked, "Hey, I guess you were probably coming in to get warmed up, but I was just about to head over to the park for a walk. Would you want to join me?"

Little smiled at him as she sipped her coffee. "I'd like that."

He smiled as they walked out of the coffee shop.

Little couldn't help but feel that maybe it was perhaps a little too early to consider flirting with another guy, but then again…She grinned slightly as they headed down the street towards the park. With one hand she pulled her hood up against both the wind and wandering eyes. She was pretty sure that no one would recognize her since she was in street clothes and her hair was a wreck instead of the pictured gown and fancy style. She could only hope. She turned a smiled on Peter. "Alright, so I have to know. Are you Peter Parker as in the photographer for the _Bugle_ or Peter Parker, the man who has a talent for spilling drinks on people?"

He grinned. "Apparently I'm both now. Now, I'm curious, are you the Miss Little who owns a flower shop in Westchester? You look like her."

She shook her head with a laugh. "Twin sisters. So, are you a journalist or do you just take amazing pictures?"

Peter looked at her with a little grin. "You think my shots are amazing?"

"The best in the _Bugle _as far as I'm concerned. You've got a real knack for photography, there, Parker."

He smiled shyly. "So, uh, do you have a special knack for anything?"

Little couldn't help but answer with the truth…well…the understandable truth. "I'm great with animals."

They walked in silence for a few minutes before he looked down at her. His mind went back to the previous day when he was talking with a coworker at the _Bugle _about what had happened at the Stark party. The man said that the mutant girl was petite with short curly black hair and blue eyes. He had even asked her a few questions. Of course, there were the photos to go of off as well. Peter started drawing congruencies and making only slightly outlandish assumptions. _Well, Jo's petite with curly black hair and blue eyes. From what I can tell she looks like the girl in the pictures, only plainer since she's not in some fancy dress and all done up. They have the same last name. Jo claims to have an affinity for animals. Would I be wrong to ask? I don't think meeting her twenty minutes ago is long enough to ask her if she's a mutant._

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Peter snapped his eyes away from her. Apparently his confusion mixed with concentration had been obvious on his face. "Oh…Uh…Erm…"

Her brows came together. "What?" Little wasn't fond of games like this.

"Is your name actually 'Kaleigh'?"

She stopped walking and stared at him with wide, slightly fearful eyes.

He looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry, I was curious. I shouldn't have asked."

Little squared her shoulders and kept walking. "Yes. My name is _actually_ Kaleigh and I am…_her_." She glanced at him from behind a curly lock. _Tit for tat, Mr. Parker. _"Why didn't your Spidey Sense tell you I was on the other side of that door?"

It was his turn to stop walking. _How does she know! _

They locked eyes and stared for a long while, trying their best to read the other's thoughts.

Little smirked. "Relax, I won't out you, so long as you don't splash my face across the _Bugle's _front page. Deal?" She held out a hand for him to shake.

He looked her over while still wondering how it was possible for her to know who he was. Still, when was the next time a pretty girl would seem to take an interest in him? He reached out and took her hand. "Dea—"

She snatched her hand back and shoved it in the pocket of the oversized coat. "Jesus! Your hands are freezing!" At that moment she realized his hands were so cold because his coat was on her. "Do you want your coat back? I'm sure my top is dry by now and it's pretty chilly today."

"Nah, you wear it. I'm alright." He finished his coffee and tossed it into the closest trash receptacle. Shoving his hands in his pockets he gave her a little nudge as they walked. "So…if I can ask, what's your story? I mean, obviously not the shit they've written about you?"

Little looked up at him seeing as how he was a good head taller than her, but wasn't everyone? She shrugged. "Depends on what yah wanna know."

He just smiled. "Start with Friday and we'll go from there."

So she did. Little explained to him as to why she had lost control and how that rarely ever happened. She told him about how she just saw her sister again for the first time in nearly seven years after they ended things on horrid terms. Nothing stopped her once she got started. Despite it being a massive break of security, Little even told him just how she knew who he was. She didn't think it would be that huge of a deal since he wasn't just some average Joe off the street. By the time she finished talking what was left of her coffee was cold and the monkey bread had mysteriously disappeared. They sat down on a bench for a spell and she noticed that his arms and face were beginning to look a little red from the exposure to the cold. She gave him a look. "You sure you don't want your coat?"

Peter just shook his head. "I'm alright. It looks good on you, anyway."

Little grinned and blushed slightly. "Are you flirting with me, Mr. Parker?"

"That depends, is it working?"

She laughed and stood from the seat. Holding out a hand, she gave him a wink. "Maybe." When he was on his feet she looked up at the sky. It had been around lunchtime when she left the Tower and the sun was starting to creep towards the horizon as if it were trying to decide whether or not to set. She sighed sadly. "I should be getting back. I'm not supposed to be out, anyway. Boss man has me on lockdown for what happened on Friday night."

He nudged her again as they started walking towards where they had walked into the park. "You do what you have to do, and as much as a guy hates saying this, I hope you can work out whatever's going on with you and that guy of yours."

Little smiled up at him and hooked her arm through his. "Thanks."

As they made their way out of the park and towards the Tower, Peter looked down at her looking only slightly nervous. "So, if things _don't_ work out, do you…uh…have a number I can call you at?"

She flushed. "Oh! Well…I don't actually have a phone of my own, but…uh…if you give me your number or something I'll call you."

That was good enough for him. He unzipped a pocket on his camera bag and pulled out a little notepad and pen. As he scribbled on the paper, he looked at her with a nervous grin. "Here's my number and where I live. Feel free to swing by anytime."

Little took the paper and put it in her pocket with a little grin. "Aren't you the one who does the swinging around here?"

He just laughed at her.

She smiled and unzipped his coat, readying to give it back. "Here, you'll be needing this."

Peter held up a hand to stop her. "You hold onto it. It'll give me a reason to see you again." He smiled shyly as he spoke, pleased with himself at the pink hue that came to her cheeks.

They parted with smiling goodbyes. Peter watched her look around before walking behind a high wall. He could just see the top of her head before it suddenly vanished. The next thing he saw was a bird flapping rapidly away from the area. A smile came to his face. She really _was _Kaleigh Little from the papers, not that he doubted her, but proof is always nice. With a little grin on his face he turned on his heel and made his way in the direction of his cruddy apartment. To hell with the cold, he was freezing!

Meanwhile, Little landed on the balcony to Stark's penthouse. There was a huge smile on her face as she walked into the building and out of the cold. No one was around so she took to the stairs and jogged down to the kitchen two floors below. She burst through the door with a smile on her face that soon crashed.

"Where have you been!"

Little's head snapped around to see a rather irate Steve Rogers glaring at her while an amused Stark sat on the couch behind him. Somehow, though, she pictured him as a short, rotund woman with red hair and a British accent. She just rolled her eyes, though. "Fuck off, Rogers. Not even your uptight bitchiness can ruin my good day!" She dug through the fridge for a can of soda and came up with a smile.

Rogers stared at her like her face had gone green or something.

Stark didn't deny himself a little snicker.

Little took her drink and made her way back to the stairs. She dug through her pocket to pull out the piece of paper with Peter's number on it with a little grin. Perhaps she would get Jarvis to let her borrow one of Stark's phones or something. It didn't matter. She had just had the best day that was amazing enough to make her forget about how horrid the last two weeks had been. Oh, she would _definitely_ be calling Peter. And soon.

**A/N A golden cookie to whoever can spot the tiny Gone With The Wind reference!**

**Like it? Love it? Think it could be better? REVIEW!**

**On a side note-RAINBOWS!**


	28. Late Night Flights

**A/N Thank you all so much for the warm welcome you've given Spidey in this story! I was so worried you'd all think I was cracked for doing it, but I was wrong and glad to be! I hope this chapter makes up for the lack in updates! So sorry about that. I've been super busy.**

**Also, to those were are wondering, as far as what kind of Spiderman he's going to be it all depends. As far as powers and what movie you're thinking of, he's the "Maguire Spidey." However, don't look entirely to him for this Spiderman. I'll admit it now that this Spidey may be just a little OOC at times.**

**Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you would please remove your hats for the glorious thanks that need be given to none other than KD SKYWALKER! Without her, I would be lost on many things. She is my wall for bouncing things off of and I love her dearly for it!**

**Um…I don't know what to say about the length of this chapter…I suppose it might seem intimidating. I'm sorry!**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Late Night Flights**

Little stood in her beautiful blue and silver bathroom running a thick-toothed comb through her short curls and talking through a slightly cracked door at the person in her room. She ran her fingers lovingly through the long, luxurious black curls as she appraised her appearance in the mirror. A small grin found its way to her face as she thought back just over ten years to her high school career. She had been the most popular and sought after girl in all of the high school, and it was no wonder why. She was an absolutely stunning sight, wasn't she? With her ivory skin a shock against the flowing black curls, dazzlingly abnormally colored eyes, and a killer athletic body, Little knew that the boys were always panting after as she walked by. She smiled at her reflection as she looked over her figure. Since she was dressed in only a pair of panties and a tank top made it easy for her to gaze upon herself. She ran her fingers first up one leg, than the other. Not a scar or blemish to be found. Her hands traveled up her sides and to her face where she stroked her cheeks proudly. Those three feature-marring scars couldn't be found anywhere. Her bottom lip no longer puckered and her eyebrow was unbroken. As she admired herself vainly in the mirror a masculine voice came floating to her ears.

"Hey, are you coming to bed, or what?"

A wicked grin came to her face as she opened the bathroom door and leaned against the frame seductively. She smiled at the man lying in her bed. He was dressed in only cotton pajama pants. _Dangerously_ low cotton pajama pants. "That all depends, what exactly would I be coming to?"

He smirked at her in that sexy sort of way that only men seem to be able to pull off. His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness as they roamed over her body. "Get over here and find out."

Little grinned at him as she crawled up from the foot of the bed and over his legs to stop and straddle his hips. She ran her fingers tenderly up his chest then along his jaw before clasping behind his neck. "Mr. Barton, you truly are a wonderful sight to behold." She leaned in and pressed a hard, passionate kiss to his lips. It felt so good to kiss him again after their argument then that horrible occurrence at the party. She smiled into the kiss as she felt his strong hands tightly grip her hips. It felt so right to kiss him like this. Just as she was about to lose herself into him and the marvelous kiss she felt a hand on her shoulder. The two hands belonging to Barton were firmly attaching to her panty-line and her own hands were still behind his neck, so who did…?

She turned her head away from Barton's heated kiss to see a second set of blue eyes staring at her. Suddenly, the pressure of the man she was straddling disappeared as she turned to smile at the new figure that was kneeling on her bed behind her.

Peter Parker put his hands on either side of her face and pulled her up to her knees. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips as his hands fell from her jaw down to her waist. The kiss was slow and passionate. There was a feeling of wonder in the exchange. Her eyes fluttered shut as he pushed her backwards onto the bed.

Little laid back, enjoying the moment as his lips left her to travel down her throat and across her collar bone. Her hands ran through his short, messy brown hair as he pressed kiss after kiss along her flesh, occasionally nipping at the pale skin as he went. As his lips came up the other side of her neck there was a strange shift in it all. She wasn't entirely certain what it was until she was kissing him again. This wasn't Peter. Opening her eyes she noticed she was staring at Barton again! It continued just like that for what felt like hours. A strange feeling would go through her and the next thing she knew it was no longer one man, but the other!

She happened to open her eyes just as the strange sensation went through her and stopped the switch. Now both men were beside her and completely oblivious towards the other. While one kissed her the other would lay praise to her neck, shoulders, or chest then they would switch as though it was planned.

Then, as if the veil was lifted, they noticed each other.

"Hey, who the hell—"

"What they hell are you—"

"My girlfriend—"

"No! _My_ girl—"

Little woke up with a gasp as she shot upright in bed. Her eyes quickly scanned the room for sign of the testosterone fueled men from her rather arousing dream. Taking a shaky breath she drew her knees to her chin and looked out the window into the starry night sky. The time didn't matter to her. She tried to think of what that dream was telling her. She had enjoyed _both _of their lavish affections, but the moment they realized they weren't alone things turned ugly. She pressed her forehead against her knees and curled tighter. What had Peter been doing in her dream any way? His girlfriend even? She had only met him a couple days ago and now she was dreaming of him putting his hands on her body in ways that even _Barton_ hadn't quite done to that extent. That was another thing! What the hell _was_ Barton doing in her dream anyway? She was done with him…right? Maybe he was only in her dream because he and Romanoff had gotten back earlier that day. Tossing the blankets off of her, and accidentally throwing Ember in the process, she got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Flipping on the light she looked at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the door.

Little frowned.

Her ivory skin was still nice, but marred in countless places by scars that may never completely heal. The three on her face she was certain would never fade. The scars littered her arms and legs from either her surgeries or just the cuts that occurred in her fall. Her fingers danced up one leg than the other, tracing the pinky-red scars there. Occasionally she would come across a scar that had begun to turn white and blend in a little better with her skin. After her legs she traced the thick scar on the inside of her upper arm. She could feel the puckering of the damaged muscle beneath and frowned. It took all she had but she tore her eyes away from her scars and looked at her hair. It was still short and sticking up all around her head from sleeping. There was even a long scar she could see on her scalp that split her hair in a strange and diagonal fashion she knew would never change.

Another frown came to her face.

In her dream she had thought back to her high school years and what a babe she had been then. Now…Now she wasn't so sure of that. Pretty? Well, yes, she was alright to look at. As gorgeous as she used to be? Hardly! It seemed that after twenty-nine years her sister was finally the prettier twin. Little left her bathroom and the slightly depressing image that looked back at her. She needed to get out. She hadn't left the Tower since the day she met Peter and that small dose of freedom had creating an itch that needed scratching. Little snatched up a pair of pants and a rather special blue hoodie from where they were hanging over the arm of her chair. Once they were on she quietly exited her room, shutting the door gently to make sure no one would wake up or hear her.

"_Mrrow!_"

Little froze and turned on her toes to stare through the darkness at Ember. She held a finger to her lips. "Hush, Baby. I'll be back by morning. I promise."

Ember blew a breathy sneeze at her mama before turning and walking back into bedroom with her tail held high.

The woman didn't move until she heard the kitten settle back on the bed. Breathing a silent sigh she continued to tip-toe down the hall. She knew there was no way out on this floor. Her special window was downstairs where Tony claimed it was broken and wouldn't shut completely. _Thanks, Tony, you're a lifesaver. _Everyone there pretty much knew what the window was for; it was no big secret since he made the announcement and stared at Little the entire time. As she took the stairs down a level she ran her fingers through her short haired, a rather painful and futile attempt to rid it of knots.

She opened the door to the living area slowly and peeked around. A sigh left her as she noticed a clock for the first time. It was a little after midnight. No one should be awake. Despite this, she continued to tip-toe across the floor and towards the community phone attached to the wall. Grabbing the phone she quickly tapped in Peter's number. She had called him a few times already after meeting to chat. Her thumb hovered over the call button, but she stopped. _Maybe…Maybe it's just far too late to call…_She shook her head. She needed someone to talk to and for some reason he was the only one she wanted to talk to.

Little pressed send.

Holding the phone to her ear she listened to the ringing. A frown came to her face as she realized he probably wasn't going to pick up. She'd just have to talk it out with Ember and that was always a pain in the a—

"_Hello?"_

She sighed in relief. "Hey, Pete. I…uh…I hope I didn't wake you."

He chuckled. _"No, I just got in from…work."_

She smirked. "So that means you're home, right? Mind if I take you up on that offer of swinging by?"

_"You know, that sounds good actually. I'll make coffee and this time I won't spill it on you."_

Little couldn't help but give a little giggle. "Alright. I'll see you in a few, Pete."

_"See yah soon, Jo."_

After hanging up the phone she turned on her heel and strode over to the "broken" window with a smile. She wrapped her fingers around the edge of the window and gave a tug.

"So, who's Pete?"

She stopped.

Little whipped around to see Barton sitting on the couch, looking rather tired and relaxed while also seeming agitated. She swallowed hard. "Why aren't you sleeping in your room like a normal person?"

His eyes narrowed at her. "Do you make it a habit to question the sleeping habits of someone you're not dating? Back to my question, now: Who's Pete?"

Her eyes narrowed in return. "Do _you _make it a habit of questioning the social life of someone you're not dating?" With that, she yanked open the window and climbed out into the cold night air. She shifted into an owl and wheeled in the direction of Peter's apartment. She knew the city well, having lived in the area for years of her life, and recalled the building that he had put down on the paper. Her wings carried her away as fast as she could manage without seeming conspicuous to those on the streets below. She didn't care for the bright lights and splendor that was New York City at night. The majesty of the city that never sleeps had long since worn off on her. As she neared the rather rundown looking area she swooped low to get a better look at the buildings. _There! _She gave a low _hoo! _as she spotted her destination. In a flurry of flapping wings she landed on a balcony so small she wondered if more than two people could even fit on it. Upon landing she looked around to make sure no eyes were on her feathery form before shifting back into a human. As she pulled the hoodie tighter about her, Little peered through the glass and could just make out Peter's form through a doorway into what looked like the world's tiniest kitchen. She brought her knuckles down gently on the glass door before her.

With a small _bang! _and a muttered swear Peter left the kitchen wiping a dish towel over the front of his shirt. Going to the front door of the apartment, he stuck his head out. "Jo?"

Nothing.

He frowned. He must have been hearing things.

_Tap! Tap! Tap! _

He spun on his heel to follow the sounds and chuckled. Walking over to the sliding door he unlocked it and slid it open. "You can't be normal and use the stairs or even a front door?"

Little smiled at him, but suddenly her dream came to the front of her mind and she broke eye contact. "Yes, but the look on your face when you thought you'd been hearing things was priceless." Her nose twitched as she noticed the large brown stain on his shirt. Coffee. "Won't spill it on me, but yourself?"

Peter looked down and shrugged. "It was quiet until I heard the knocking. You surprised me." Stepping aside, he held out an arm to invite her in so he could stop the cold from completely overtaking his apartment. As she walked in he couldn't help but feel a little inadequate. His place wasn't just small, it was _tiny_. The main room could be crossed in less than ten short strides and was home to both an old sofa and his kitchen table. The kitchen was half the size of it with no real counter-space to speak of. _Oh_, _Lord_…He hoped she never asked to use the bathroom…The best he could say about the apartment was that the bedroom and living room were actually the same size. However, nothing could hide the controlled mess. Hey, free-lance photography wasn't the highest paying gig out there and he didn't really get a weekly paycheck for his other profession. "I'm gunna go change my shirt real quick. Make yourself at home. Sorry it's so crowded and a mess."

"It's fine." She smiled as she started to mosey about the small room. "Be sure to ring out your shirt. We might be able to get a whole mug of coffee out of it."

He just shook his head with a little chuckle as he walked into his room, not bothering with the door. It wasn't like he was getting naked or anything.

Little's bright eyes followed him as she tried to make it less obvious she was watching him. She saw his discard the soiled shirt and her brow rose. _Seems my subconscious wasn't that far off…_Peter had a nice torso. He was leaner than Barton, but still muscled. Again, the dream came to her mind and she was glad the room wasn't that well lit because she could feel her cheeks burning. Turning her eyes away from his form she studied a picture on the small bookshelf. It was of an elderly couple looking happy as they sat at an old kitchen table. They were smiling happily and making Little feel guilty about her rather impure thoughts.

"My aunt and uncle before he died."

She jumped and gave a little squeak of surprise. "Wear a bell, Damnit!"

Peter laughed and nodded towards the kitchen. "How about that coffee?" As he poured them each a mug, he couldn't help but wonder at something. "So, why the late-night call? Am I about to become your personal booty call?"

Little laughed as she took her mug and settled onto the worn, but comfortable sofa. "I…uh…I guess I needed someone to talk to."

He lounged at the other end and took a drink of the hot liquid. "Well, I'm all ears."

She ran a finger over the top of the mug and tried to think of how to word it all. To hell with that. She had always been better at being blunt. "I had a dream that Clint and I were back together…I think. We were in bed about to…enjoy ourselves when suddenly you were there and he was gone! Than you and I…yeah…almost, anyways. Suddenly, Clint was back and you were gone. It flip-flopped like that for a bit until you were _both _there. You didn't seem to notice each other at first but then you saw each other. You argued over me for a moment before I woke up. What was worse was that in the dream I looked how I used to. Before my crash landing I wasn't all scarred up and my hair was longer. I guess you could say I was _actually _a gal two guys would fight over." She stared into the nearly black liquid, holding the mug with both hands. "I don't know what to make of it. I can assume Clint was in my dream because he came back earlier today…yesterday? Whatever. Anyway, but _you _being in my dream is what threw me."

Peter's eyes looked like tea saucers. "Oh…Well…Um…" He set his mug aside and rubbed the back of his neck. This was a rather compromising situation. He looked over at her. She was barefoot, wearing a pair of old looking jeans, and his hoodie. Her hair looked crazier than the first time he saw her, but it seemed that was from it having been slept on. "C'mere."

She looked up at his and ran a hand through her messy hair, wincing slightly as a finger caught a knot. Setting her own mug aside she scooted over to the seat between them.

He grabbed her by the face and locked eyes with her. "First off, if you ask me, you _are _the kinda girl two guys would fight over. You look great for a chick who was in a coma…uh…sorry I forgot how long ago you said that was."

"About four months ago."

"Right, back to what I was saying. I'm no shrink, but if you ask me—which you are—the dream was obviously you having issues trying to figure out what's left of your feelings for Clint and whatever connection we have based on our meeting. Fair enough?"

She smiled weakly and brought up a hand to grasp one of his wrists. "Fair enough." She then noticed just how close their faces were. _Would just one itty bitty kiss hurt anyone here? _She bit her lip in thought before leaning in and pressing a swift kiss to his lips. "Thanks, Pete."

He smiled at her as she pulled away. "You're welcome, I guess."

Little sat back and retrieved her coffee, thankful once more for the less than adequate lighting. She smiled into her mug as she took a sip. "So, tell me Mr. Parker, what's it like being the infamous SpiderMan?"

He leaned back in his seat and chuckled. "It's got some perks. So long as I'm in the red an' blue I don't have to hoof it or bother with traffic. It does suck, though, when your own boss has tried to make you look bad." He took another drink. "My turn. Tell me, Miss Little, what's it like being a born-and-bred superhero instead of the garden-variety spider-created ones like myself? Also, when you do turn where do your clothes go?"

She tossed her head slightly as she laughed. "I'm not a superhero, Pete. I'm a mutant. Mutant and proud, actually. And, to answer your question, there are pros and cons to it. So long as no one sees me shifting I never have to take a taxi or drive anywhere. However, the con to that is that no one is allowed to see me outside of those who know what I am. As far as my clothes, I've never really known. I know most everything I wear just sorta melts into me or something…Jewelry doesn't stick. Eyewear doesn't stay. Hmm…I've never had my ears pierced, so I wouldn't know about that." She nodded as though confirming her words. "Anyway, another downside is since I gained my shifting abilities before I was sixteen I actually never learned how to drive. The agency I work for usually has all of these specific things agents have to be able to do. We have to be able to drive any ground vehicle and, if we want, we can learn to fly the jets. Well, the boss made an exception for me since I don't have to worry about a mode of transportation most of the time. Anyway, it also kinda sucks that the majority of the human race don't like mutants, but I was born this way and I can't change that. You would understand that, though, right? Yeah, you can go swinging around the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty, but you've gotta be masked."

"You make a good point. It'd be nice if I didn't have to wear it sometimes." He laughed aloud. "God! It's horrible sometimes! I can't wear underwear because it chaffs like a bitch an—"

She grinned wickedly. "Oooh, Spidey goes commando? Ever thought of doing a Superhero Strip-Tease?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're hilarious. It can get pretty stuffy in there, too."

It was just more material for her to work with. "So commando and all hot and sweaty? You really know how to make a girl's day, Pete."

"Don't make me dump the pot of coffee over your head."

She narrowed her eyes with a smirk. "I'd just give you a big ol' hug then we'd both be covered in coffee. Also, I _am _wearing _your _hoodie right now."

He rolled his eyes. "Please, by now you've probably sprayed it with perfume and claimed it as yours by wearing it all the time."

"I don't wear perfume. It still smells like you even if I do wear it daily." She realized what she said and blushed.

Pete grinned and pointed an accusing finger in her direction. "So, you wear it daily?"

She sniffed and put her nose in the air. "The Tower can get pretty drafty with everyone uses the stairwell and elevator all day." She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a look. "And I _did_ offer to give it back, if you recall."

He laughed and held up his hands in defense. "Alright, alright, point taken."

The night continued in a similar fashion of them making jokes at one another or trying—and failing—to hide a simple truth for the fun of it well into the early morning. Little ended up falling asleep on his couch during their conversation about what kind of mythological creature would make the best pet. Peter thought he had won when she stopped insisting that owning an alicorn would be so much cooler than being the master to a three-headed dog. He started to gloat until he realized her eyes were closed and she seemed to be slumping over to the side. Peter grinned and stood carefully before readjusting her as best he could so that she was lying on her side. He grabbed the old blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it haphazardly over her. After that was done he went into his room and crashed onto his bed with a heavy _thud! _He stayed there for a moment, fully dressed and not caring, until he was compelled to look at the alarm clock to see how long he had until he needed to be up for work. He groaned. It was precisely two hours and sixteen minutes until his alarm would go off. _Damn…_Lucky for him that their coffee had been decaf because he fell asleep almost instantly after that.

_REE! REE! REE! REE!_

Peter groaned as he rolled over onto his back. He needed a new alarm where the radio wasn't broken. It was better than waking up to the ear-splitting screech. With a heavy sigh he sat up and almost bumped his nose against the white mug being held near his face. When he jumped at the sight he almost knocked it out of the hand holding it.

Little smiled at him. "Thanks for the blanket. Coffee?"

He took the cup and rubbed his face. "To quote you: wear a bell, damnit!"

She just smiled and sat on the edge of the bed beside him. "I'll buy you one for Christmas seeing as how that's only a couple days away." She sipped at her own mug of the delicious nectar. "Well, you probably have work to go to and I should get back before the captain flips shit. Last time I got out he yelled at me like he was my mother. I'm almost scared to see how he'll react to my leaving in the middle of the night."

Peter stood and set his coffee on the nightstand while he slowly began to get ready. Two hours was far from enough time to have enough sleep to deal with J. Jonah Jameson all day… "Is it already that close to Christmas?"

She nodded. "MmHmm. What's better is I haven't gotten anything for anyone I live with except for Bruce. He's easy to shop for, though. Maybe along with a bell I'll buy you a replacement hoodie."

He raised a brow at her. "Do you really intend on buying me things?"

She laughed. "Not at all. Stark does the buying. He gives us each a personal spending limit per month that allows us to get what we need." She stood and walked out of the room so he could finish getting ready for the day. Out of curiosity she dug through her pockets to see if she had any cash or even her little paycard that Stark had provided her with. _Huzzah! _She smiled as she pulled the blue card in her hand. Thank goodness for her bad habit of forgetting to empty her pockets each night! Perhaps she would stop somewhere on her way back to the Tower and get that bell.

"Alright, well I should be going."

She turned on her heel and gave him a little smile. "Yeah, me too. I'll see you soon?"

Pete walked over to her and gave her a smile. "Just give me a call."

They parted after a quick hug and made their way to their chosen exits. As little pulled open the sliding glass door she was stopped by his voice.

"Hey, Jo? What are…_we_?"

She turned and gave him a look and a shrug. "I don't really know. Would no labeling it work for you?"

He thought it over for a moment or two. No labels could mean no major commitments and having to make dates and events. No labels could make things much, much easier. He nodded. "No labels is it."

Little just smiled in response before stepping onto the balcony. After shutting the door she shifted into a pigeon and fluttered away from his apartment building. If she could force her little beak to reform into a smiling one like in the cartoons she would have been grinning from ear to ear. She chirped happily as she made her way back to the Tower. As she flew she saw a vendor below selling hoodies. Wheeling down she stopped in an empty alley to shift before pulling up the hood on her own coat and approaching the man. Luckily he was a more advanced booth that took cards. She bought a dark red hoodie, mostly because it was her favorite color. As she walked away she noticed she wasn't too far from the Tower and could walk the rest of the distance. When she approached the base of the building she found a good hiding spot and pulled on the second coat before shifting and flying up to the penthouse balcony. She slipped into the building unseen and went over to the stairwell. Once on the Suite floor she padded over to her room and slipped inside, still unseen. She hoped that everyone was either still asleep or just downstairs and that no one noticed she was missing. With a heavy sigh she fell into bed after discarding the two hoodies and snuggled up to a pillow. As Ember hopped up to curl up beside her she fell asleep, exhausted.

Downstairs, some of the group sat around the table enjoying breakfast and coffee or tea depending. They all heard the quiet opening and shutting of doors and light footsteps. If there was one flaw in Stark Tower it was that any thing weighing over fifty pounds that walked around could easily be heard on the floor below.

Barton was amongst that group. He frowned deeply. "Well, she's back."

Rogers jumped on the information. "Little? She left again? Where'd she go? Do you know? How'd she get out?"

Everyone stared at the captain with almost terrified looks on their faces.

"Uh…I don't know _where _she went, but she left a little after midnight to go meet some," Barton had to force himself not to growl out the next word, "guy named _Pete_. She left through the broken window." He looked over to Tony who was nursing a mug of coffee. "Why don't we just admit that Stark rigged the window so she could get out?"

The billionaire's eyebrows shot open. "Excuse me? Me? Disobey a direct order from Fury? I'm surprised that you would insinuate such a thing." Sticking his nose in the air he stomped off.

Banner was sitting at the table with his usual cup of tea and a newspaper. "I think it's better to let her get out than keep her locked up. If we kept her caged she'd probably flip shit and try to kill half of us. Though this time I think she'd pick something a little deadlier than a bear."

Barton and Rogers stared at the rather nonchalant man sipping at his mug.

The captain was the first to snap. "Are you crazy! She's already gotten in enough trouble as it is!"

Barton wanted to agree with the scientist, but due to still being rather peeved with her for the way she spoke to him the night before made him side with Rogers. "Yeah! Who knows what's she's doing?"

Banner took another slow sip of tea. "The answer is simple, then. If you don't trust her, be the spy or whatever you're trained to be and follow her." He folded the paper and set his now empty cup by the sink. "I've got tests to run."

The two watched as Banner went to the elevator and disappeared. Turning to look at one another they shared a glance. It was decided. Barton would follow Little the next time she skipped out.

He didn't have to wait long.

The next night, a day before Christmas Eve, he was sitting in the living room watching a late night movie due to a sudden bout of insomnia when the door from the stairwell opened. Turning he saw her stride boldly over to the supposedly broken window and pull it open. It was as though she hadn't even seen him. Perfect. As she climbed out the window he jumped to his feet and went to the opening. He watched the feathery figure fly off into the distance. Luckily she didn't wheel around to the other side of the building where he might lose her. Barton thanked Stark for having one of the tallest (if not the tallest) buildings in all of New York City and whoever might be up there for gifting him with incredible eyesight. It made it easy to follow her form as she flapped high over the rooftops. He mentally noted how many streets out she was when she finally dove downward. When he had figured out his plan of action he ran to the stairs and jogged all the way down. His adrenaline was too high for such a long descent to shake him. When he hit the lobby floor his feet carried him out the door.

Barton wove through the busy city streets, looking up occasionally and picturing a phantom Little flying overhead to assist him in his walk. It was a fair distance, but nothing his jealousy couldn't push him into walking. He found the street and began to walk its length in the hopes of finding some clue as to where she was. At this point he was going completely blind, but this wasn't the first mission of his to turn out like that. No, he would figure it out or just find a nice rooftop and wait for her to emerge from any one of the buildings.

Luck was on Barton's side that night. He couldn't help but think that it was almost trying to get him to find the woman. As he walked he heard a rather distinct laugh and tilted his head back to look up. He quickly dashed across the street and hid in an alley. Four floors above him and standing on a rather tiny balcony was Little herself. She was smiling in the light of the lamps and moon with a man beside her. The jealousy he had only felt hints of since their big fight and the party resurfaced with a vengeance. At the party he knew she was purposely trying to piss him off, but here where she had no clue he was watching her made it obvious that this behavior was _real_. He watched with a heavy frown as the man beside her put an arm around her shoulders and said something that made her laugh happily. Somewhere deep in the SHIELD agent's mind there was another version of him that told him to back off because they weren't dating. Right beside that version there was a little him screaming that no one makes her laugh like that except _him! _Barton continued to glare up at the rather happy looking couple, wondering why on Earth she was meeting him so late at night. Was it because she could sneak out easier at night? Hell, she could sneak out whenever with her powers. Was it because this was a booty call? And if so, who was calling who? The thought of killing this man for even daring to put a rather sensitive male appendage anywhere near _his _Kaleigh, but he wouldn't until he was positive that was the case.

_That's it. I'm bringing my bow next time!_

Barton watched and suppressed a grumble as the couple on the balcony shared a small, feather light kiss after she handed him some sort of coat. The only solace he could find was that it didn't appear that they were in the makings of sucking each other's faces. He didn't know if he would be able to stand such a sight…Barton decided he couldn't stand anymore of this anyway. He left his hiding spot in the alley and began the return trip to the Stark Tower with this new information in mind. In a jealous thought he couldn't help but imagine forcing Little into a real lockdown just so she couldn't see this Pete fellow. As he walked home at a steady, focused pace there was something inside him that cracked just a little. His sanity was intact, but his pride had taken a hearty blow. Shoving his hands in his pockets he tried to step the urge to take out his jealous anger on the first thing that came within arms reach. That would just have to wait until tomorrow when he would pretend every single target he shot at, every punching bag he hit, or every bug he decided to squish was Pete.

**A/N Longest chapter ever in the history of all my fanfictions. Oh. My. Gosh. I really wanted all that happened to happen and I hope that the extraordinary length didn't put any of you off your tea! **

**I hope you liked it!**

**As always, like it? Love it? Review it! Pretend this story has a bumper sticker that reads "How am I writing? Review!"**


	29. Thunder, Lightning, and Christmas! Oh my

**A/N Thanks for all the awesome reviews, guys! You all rock serious awesome sauce :)**

**Please note that for this chapter I will be doing as a friend of mine, KD Skywalker, did which is sort of mixing the heights of the actors with their comic counterparts. IE Renner is 5'9" but Hawkeye is 6'3" in the comics, therefore in this story he's going to be around 6-even. Understand? Awesome!**

**Also, to clear the air, Little and her sister are 5'2"**

**I'm sooo sorry for the long wait, guys! A whole week! D: Please forgive me? Hopefully this chapter will make up for it all!**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Thunder, Lightning, and Christmas! Oh my!**

The morning of Christmas Eve found Little curled up as a cat on her bed, purring along side Ember. The orange and white kitten was snuggled up against her belly while Little lovingly cleaned the top of her head. She had just returned from another evening at Peter's and was beginning to feel guilty for all the time she was spending away from her darling little girl. Little knew she would probably never be a real mother, but she was perfectly happy to settle raising the kitten as though she were her own. She loved Ember in a way that no one else could ever truly understand or replicate the bond they had. Stretching out with a wide-mouthed yawn Little wrapped her foreleg around the kitten and pulled her close. Nap time with Ember was always so relaxing. It gave her plenty of time to just think. Little really needed to think. However, the thinking could wait until later. She mentally smiled as she continued to cuddle her "daughter." _Peace and quiet…_

_Knock, knock, knock!_

She started growling. So much for peace and quiet…Sitting up and stretching out, flicking her long black tail this way and that, she glared at the door deciding whether or not to allow access to whoever was on the other side. Letting out a huff of a sigh, she meowed at the door.

Bruce poked his head inside. "Hey, Jo. Glad to see you're up. So, there's a big breakfast downstairs if you want to join in. Apparently Natasha was teaching Steve how to use all the really high-tech appliances Tony has since he knows how to operate the basic ones and it escalated into breakfast. He's rather proud of himself, really. Care to join in before the bottomless pits eat everything?" At first he wondered if she could even understand him until he remembered her telling him that she can understand English in any form.

Little let out a huff before stretching and opening her maw in a wide yawn, flashing pearly and dangerous looking fangs. Taking in a deep breath, she sighed and shifted. It was a slow, relaxed change, nothing like Banner had seen before. He was used to split second changes that he would miss the majority of if he blinked. As he watched her he could see her features turning from feline to human. It was almost laughable towards the end as her nose hadn't changed back and she still had whiskers. The very last things he noticed to change were her pupils. He noticed how the slower change brought her more animalistic qualities to light. Her features had a soft, feminine appeal, but held harsh angles as well. Her eyes always seemed to be alight with some kind of curiosity. Banner stopped studying her like some lab experiment as she stood from the bed with a stretch.

"I suppose I could eat. Though, I'm not sure I trust Rogers' cooking…"

Banner chuckled softly and gave his tilted grin. "Nothing got burnt as far as I know and it all seems edible to me."

She bent and twisted for a moment making parts of her body snap, crackle, and pop much in the same fashion as the popular breakfast cereal. Picking up Ember, she walked over to the door. "Well, hopefully I won't die of food poisoning."

The scientist looked at her with a brow raised. "Why exactly do you hate Steve anyway? I'm not all that big on understanding social interactions, but you seem to get along just fine with everyone else when they aren't your current ex-boyfriend who pissed you off."

Little let her kitten jump down to the floor as they got to the staircase. "Honestly? I just don't like him. I suppose I could say something like our personalities don't mix well, but I really just don't like him. Shallow? Yes. Truthful? Hell yes."

"So, you really just don't like him? At all?"

She shrugged as they made it to the door leading into the living area. "If this breakfast actually tastes good I might reconsider a few things." When she stepped into the living area she suddenly found herself on her toes with her nose in the air taking a deep sniff. Damn it all if it didn't smell absolutely _fantastic! _She looked around the room to find the rest of the Avengers scattered about. Stark and Pepper were sitting at the table with their plates of food. Little realized Banner must have meant the billionaire was the bottomless pit seeing as how he had a mound of food enough to feed a small family. _How is he not incredibly fat?_ Romanoff was perched on the edge of one of the sofas with her plate, watching Rogers toss another pancake off the griddle and onto the steadily growing stack. While Banner went to get himself a plate her eyes found Barton. He was leaning against the kitchen counter with his plate and chatting easily with the couple sitting at the table and the man preparing the food. Little had to force her thoughts towards malice. Why did he have to look so…good? He was wearing a plain white tee shirt and blue and white striped pajama pants. His hair was all mussed and it looked as though he just woke up. Squaring her shoulders she grabbed a plate from the stack and began dishing out a breakfast for herself. She had her heart set on some perfectly delicious and fluffy looking pancakes big side of eggs along with bacon. Oh, glorious bacon!

As she stepped close to him to get some of the fried pig, Barton gave her a small nod. "Morning."

She didn't answer him.

By her feet, Ember meowed loud enough to be heard over the quiet din of scraping utensils, chatting, and the clinking of dishes.

The noise ceased.

Little looked down. "Can I help you, Your Majesty?" _Damn it…_

The kitten pawed at her ankle and gave a rather demanding sounding meow.

"Alright, alright. Fine." Turning to the captain, she nodded to a cupboard. "Hand me a small bowl, would yah, Cap?"

Everyone watched in curiosity as she took the small bowl and set it down beside a larger bowl filled to the brim with steaming scrambled eggs. Little scooped some of the yellow chunks into the dish and tore up a piece of bacon and a sausage link over it. After mixing it all with a fork, she took her own plate and found a seat at the table. Little set the bowl down. It was soon attack viciously by the kitten who was all too happy to devour the human food.

Stark had a piece of sausage on his fork and chipmunk cheeks full of food as he watched Little dive into her breakfast. Now, personally, he always ate the main dish first than started in on the sides. However, he noticed Little practically inhaled the meat and eggs first before starting in on her pancakes. It made him wonder…Swallowing and taking a rather noisy slurp of coffee, he pointed his sausage-topped fork at her. "You know, Fifi, I always pictured you as a vegetarian. I mean, I haven't really kept track of your eating habits, but I assumed you preferred rabbit food seeing as how you can, well, turn into a rabbit."

Little chomped down on a sausage link and raised a brow at him. After swallowing, she grinned. "You'd think that, however seeing as how I can also become what eats the rabbit I've never really found eating meat as a bad thing. When I was younger I contemplated being a veg head, but decided against it. I just like meat too much."

There was a silence in the group that was broken by Stark bursting into laughter and almost face-planting into his food.

Little thought over her last sentence before slapping a palm to her forehead and sighing. "Shut up, Stark." After enjoying a mouthful of eggs, bacon, and a small piece of pancake she turned to look at Rogers who had finally turned the stove off. "I gotta hand it to you, Cap, you might be a socially awkward mess, but you make a mean breakfast."

The man set her with a hard stare, but only shrugged. He knew it was pointless trying to get anything out of Little that wasn't coupled with an insult. Hell, he was surprised she had even complimented him in the first place.

Pepper wiped her mouth and looked around the room as she stood. "Alright, listen up everyone! Tomorrow is Christmas, which means tomorrow night there will be Christmas dinner. _All _of you _will _be in attendance and _all _of you _will _behave properly. This means no insults, no bickering, no fighting. Also, if you'd like guests can be invited. Whether or not any of _you _like it, I've already invited Fury. This way he can check up on the status of things, especially Kaleigh's lockdown. So feel free to invite anyone over; friends, family, whatever." When she looked around she suddenly realized what she said. She was standing in a room with six people who were all pretty much family-less. She would have backed away slowly had she been able to move from under the rather unamused gazes before her. _Good goin', Pepper…_

Stark jumped up with a big, shit-eating grin. "Well, seeing as how Pepper has thoroughly made an ass out of herself, why don't we just pull out a phonebook, flip through the pages, and stop at the most interesting names, yeah? Awesome! I'm callin' Rhodey! Hey! Fifi, you've got a sister, invite her over. Last time we saw her you were bald and in a coma."

Little glared at him and threatening him with a fork, unable to speak the threat due to her mouth being full of pancakes. After swallowing, she looked around the room and raised a brow. "So…Does everyone here come from a more fucked up than usual family life? Is that one of the job requirements to being a superhero?"

There was a moment of silence as the group thought about their respective shortcomings in the family department.

Stark beamed a smile. "So, Fifi, that sister of yours?"

She waved a forkful of pancake at him and gave a nod, unable to speak once more seeing as how her mouth was full…again…

By then Pepper had shrunk back into her seat and the conversation had slowly begun to build once again. She looked over to Little across the table from her, looking incredibly guilty. "Sorry…"

The raven-haired woman smiled after swallowing. "Not a huge issue, Pepp. Sure, not the best way to remind have of us we _don't _have real families, but you were just going." She tapped her freshly emptied fork on the plate before her, her good-natured smile fading as her eyes fell to the empty plate before her. After taking her good sweet time to chew and swallow, she gave Pepper a weak smile after glancing around. Rogers and Romanoff were making enough noise in the kitchen with the dishes and it seemed Banner must have taken his plate and skedaddled on down to the lab. Barton and Stark were bickering over who got the last couple slices of bacon, neither willing to budge on their concept of ownership. She took a breath. "Hey, if you're not busy can I talk to you about something?"

Pepper's redhead snapped back a bit, shocked by the sudden request. She smiled softly. "Of course."

Little stood and put her dishes in the sink. "Well, Rogers, breakfast certainly wasn't disgusting."

Romanoff rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon Little, just tell him it was delicious."

"Hey, I already complimented him once today. Be happy it's happened twice."

After dropping off her things in the sink she gave Pepper a look and went to the stairs. She jogged up to the Suite Floor with Ember in tow and settled down on one of the couches to wait or Pepper. There was a need within her to talk to someone either than her naïve kitten and to who the issue was about. The only person in the Tower she usually talked to her problems about was down in the lab, a place she was still barred from going. Yeah, she could ask Jarvis to get Banner, but when they talked he was always multitasking by talking to her _and_ working. It would be downright rude to pull him away from that. The only other person she could think to talk to was Pepper since she always seemed so composed and level-headed.

"So, what is it you need to talk about?"

Little jumped slightly. Though her hearing was excellent she chose to make it selective. She loved her powers, but having such sensitive hearing could be a horrid thing. There was nothing worse than being able to hear damn near everything happening on the few floors above and the few floors below. Hell, if she stood by an open window and looked down she could focus enough on a person on the street below enough to listen in on their conversation. Enhanced hearing made for an excellent spy, but for an annoyed normal person. She smiled at the woman. "Join me." After Pepper sat down she started off with an ice breaker. "First, I really do want to say that what you said earlier was alright. Yeah, not a great time of year to remind people they don't have families, I'll give you that. Anyway, I wanted your opinion on something."

Pepper only raised a brow as she waited.

Little took a deep breath. "Alright, so here's the deal. Would you feel guilty if you and Stark broke up and you met someone else?"

Another brow raise. "Is this about your 'sneaking' out?"

"Am I that obvious?"

Pepper just gave her a look.

Little smiled. "Alright, I'll start from the beginning. His name is Pete. I met him the first time I snuck out and we've seen each other a couple times since then." She chuckled quietly. "He spilled coffee on me when we met…Anyway, here's the deal. I like Pete, I really do. Right now I kinda feel like a high school girl who has a massive crush." She started playing with her nails. She wanted to go into some deeper detail, but that might not be a grand idea seeing as how Peter wasn't just some other guy. _A fib will work. A little white lie. _"You see, he's a mutant, too. He's just a little more into being part of the human populace than I am. It's great because he can actually _understand _what it's like." She sort of trailed off at that point.

"Have you slept with him?"

Blue eyes widened slightly as she shook her head. "No. I've kissed him, but that's it. I'll admit, he's not half bad about it either." She chuckled weakly before looking down at her hands. Ember jumped into her lap and demanded to be pet. "I just feel guilty and I don't know why. I go and see Pete and we hang out for a while then I come back here and bump into Clint in the halls and feel like crap. I have to make myself think about hating him. This morning I walked into the kitchen and he looked good in his pajamas with his hair all messed up, but I had to stop myself." She stuck her thumb nail between her teeth and chewed nervously. "It's not hard, but I have to _remind_ myself that I'm angry at him or else I'd forget completely. Wouldn't you be mad?"

Pepper didn't respond for some time. Instead, she sat there and stared at Little as she mulled over what she had just been told. The overall reason behind this was obvious to her already, but she knew Little needed a push in the right direction. "Well, from what I've been told you and Clint went at it because he was jealous and accused you of spending far too much time with Dr. Bann—"

"He basically accused me of cheating on him!"

Pepper held up a hand to silence her. "However, if you think about it you're already over it. I can't tell you how many times I've been mad at Tony from the simplest of things to huge mistakes. I'll remind myself I'm supposed to be mad when he does the little things or gives me that stupid grin of his that wins me over every time. However, it doesn't take long for me to realize that I just can't stay mad at him for too long. Do you know why?"

Little stared at her with eyes full of curiosity as she chewed on her nail. "Why?"

A smirk came to the woman's face. "Because I love him."

Little jumped to her feet and shook her head. "No, no, no, no. Absolutely not. This is different!" Ember, who had just been dumped from her rather comfortable position on Little's lap, glared up at her mama.

"How so? Stark mad a complete and utter ass out of himself at his last big birthday party. Granted, he was dying, but still. He made everything into a huge mess that I had to clean up. Also, he bought me strawberries even though I'm allergic to them. Despite all of this, I don't hold it against him because that's also when we started being _us_. Yet, you can believe that you just might be even the tiniest bit in love with Clint."

Little crossed her arms and gave a rather childish huff. "But Pepp—"

Mom Mode activated. "Don't argue with me when you know I'm right."

With a heavy sigh she plopped back down onto the couch and thought about it all. She remembered back to the day she first started crushing on Barton. It was the mission he had tried to teach her to shoot his bow. When she got all flustered about it he had laughed at her quietly. That was the first time she'd ever heard him laugh in such a genuine way. She had liked it. From then on she kept finding more things about him she liked. He was built the way she liked men to be built. He had a sense of humor that made it difficult to focus on a mission if he felt the time was right to drop a joke. She loved his blue eyes and how they would scan everything around him at regular intervals. She had harbored her affection for him for some time, always afraid to actually approach him. That, and SHIELD wasn't that hip on coworkers dating. However, when she woke up to find him there sleeping with his head on her bed, it had given her hope. After that pieces started falling into place. She sighed. "Alright…You _might _be right."

Pepper grinned. "Than the solution to your problem is simple."

Little raised a brow.

The redhead smile. "Tell Pete you're sorry, but you still care for Clint in a way that would make things between you two impossible than get your ass back here and talk to Clint. Personally, I'm getting tired of watching you two either glare daggers at one another or ignore each other all together." She stood. "Now, you don't have to do this right now, but do it soon. It hasn't been long since everything happened, but that doesn't mean he's going to wait forever. Until you decide when to deal with this issue, call your sister and invite her to dinner tomorrow night."

Little watched Pepper walk away after that. She fell back on the couch and glared at the ceiling. Damn it…Pepper was right. She loved him. Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind she went back over to the stairs where she jogged down to the floor below. Upon entering she found only Rogers remained after breakfast. He was cleaning up the kitchen. She just gave him a nod of the head as she grabbed the phone from the wall. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea what number to call. She only knew the main number for the mansion. "Jarvis, think you can find out the number to reach my sister?"

_"Name?"_

"Kiliegh Joann Little."

_"Right away, Agent Little."_

She leaned against the counter while she waited, hoping that the AI would be successful.

_"Dialing now, Miss."_

Little smiled and held the phone to her ear. "Jarvis, you are a wonder."

_"Thank you_."

The phone rang four times before there was an answer on the other line.

_"Hello?"_

Little sucked in a breath. "Hey, Kileigh, it's me."

_"What do you want?"_

Sure, they had made up, but that didn't mean there weren't still some hostilities.

"Alright, here's the deal. We're having a Christmas dinner here at the Tower tomorrow night and you can come if you want."

_"Do I have to bring anything?"_

Little shrugged. "I suppose you can if you want. Oh, just make sure there aren't strawberries in it. Pepper's allergic to them."

_"Who the hell…? You know what, never mind. I'd go, but we're having dinner here, too, or have you forgotten we're family here at the mansion?"_

Little growled through the phone. "Hey, I was just being nice, or trying to anyway. Think of it this way, you get to meet the Avengers!"

_"I met them when you were in a coma, dumbass."_

"You realize that one of them is Captain America, who's single. Clint is single, too. I might even be nice and not kill you for hitting on him."

Silence.

_"Deal. What time?"_

Little chuckled. "Hell if I know. Just show up around five or something. If dinner isn't ready then you can just hang out and explore or something. See you then."

_"Bye."_

_ Click!_

Little put the phone back on the receiver and sighed heavily.

"Is she really going to hit on us?"

She looked up. Rogers wasn't looking at her, but he was the one to speak. "Oh, probably. But she's harmless…I think…"

Rogers watched her walk away, suddenly worried about to following evening.

* * *

At five o'clock sharp Joann showed up at the Tower and walked up to the front desk. The receptionist asked her who she was and what her business there would be. Joann wasn't entirely certain on how to answer that at first. She shuffled on her feet and cursed her sister's name before saying she had been invited to dinner by those who live in the Tower. The woman behind the desk just gave her a smile and pointed her over to the elevator after telling her press the button for the top floor. Joann dipped her head in thanks before scurrying over to the lift. She stepped inside and hit the top button. As the square room began to zoom upwards she looked down at the parcel in her hand. She had brought something along because it had been drilled into her skull from a young age that a guest should always be gracious and bring something for the host. So, apple pie it was! The lift stopped after what she over exaggerated as an hour. The doors slid open with a slight _ding! _Joann stepped out, perfectly nervous, and glanced around the room. Everyone was staring at her. She sighed in relief when she realized that it wasn't because she was underdressed seeing as how everyone else was dressed as casually as she. Looking around, she tried to remember names and faces. She knew Stark since he was famous. Pepper was the next person she recognized since she was often in the news with Stark. _Umm…Dr. Banter? _Oh! She knew Barton right off. _That one has to be Captain America…what's his actual name? _The man dressed in all black was incredibly familiar, but where did she know him from?She chewed on her lip before salvation came in the form of her doppelganger.

"Kileigh, glad you're here." Little sniffed. "You brought pie." She was in the penthouse that evening under the expressed consent of Fury.

Joann smiled weakly and held out the pie to her sister. "Yeah, Mom and Dad always said a good guest brings something for the host, right?"

Little smiled and took the container with another deep sniff. "Mmm…Apple pie." She noticed her sister's nervous stance and put an arm around her shoulders. "Did you grow the ingredients yourself? Mom always loved your homegrown pies."

Swallowing nervously seeing as how she was still under the watchful eyes of everyone else, she nodded. "Uh…Yes."

Little smiled. "Great! Now, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Tony Stark, and his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. I'm sure you've seen them plenty of times on the tube."

Joann smiled and shook hands. "Nice to meet you. I remember meeting Stark back on the helicarrier."

The billionaire grinned. "If I remember correctly you waggled your finger at us for staring. Well, if it's any consolation I can tell you two apart now!"

Little rolled her eyes and introduced her to the tall, blonde man. "Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America."

Rogers shook her hand and gave her a nod. "Evening, Miss. I don't believe we were introduced when you visited your sister."

Joann looked over him with a very appreciative eye. She gave a rather flirtatious smile. "No, I don't think we were."

From nearby Romanoff cleared her throat.

Little smirked in her direction. "And this is Natasha, a fellow agent of mine."

As the two women shook hands there was a moment where each person in the room could feel the electricity between them. It was enough to bring some smirks to a few faces.

Little brought her up to Banner. "This is Doctor Bruce Banner, one of my closer friends in the group."

Joann looked the man over with a brow raised. He was entirely unimpressive to the point his appearance alone could define the word.

"Now, you know Clint. Last, there's my boss, Nick Fury."

Fury's hands were behind his back in their usual fashion as he simply gave Joann a nod of the head. "Miss Little."

Recognition flashed through her eyes. "Now I remember you! You're the man who convinced my sister to leave the mansion and her _family_."

Little tugged her sister away. "Yes, _Kileigh_, but I'm happy with SHIELD so be happy for me, yeah?"

Commence the awkward silence.

Pepper smiled and stepped forward to take the pie from Little. "Well, this does smell good. How about we all get ready to eat. You arrived just in time, Kileigh. Do you go by that name?"

Joann gave a small smile of thanks. "No, actually. I prefer to go by Joann. What do you all call Leigh?"

"I call her Jo."

"The rest of us call her Little."

Stark beamed a smile. "I call her Fifi! And such a good girl she is."

Joann stared at the man for a moment or two before laughing and patting her sister on the head. "Have you taught her to fetch the paper, yet? I distinctly remember her doing it for dad to make him laugh."

Little went red in the face with both anger and embarrassment. That wasn't exactly her favorite childhood story even if it did end with her father happy and laughing. She hung back from the group a little as they made their way over to the long table set up near the bar. The table was set for nine with one side having an extra plate, but could probably seat up to ten or twelve if elbow room wasn't entirely necessary. Stark took the seat at the head of the table with Pepper directly to his right. To his left sat Fury. Down that side of the table sat Banner, then Romanoff. At the end of the table sat Rogers. To his left Joann plopped down, all too happy to get a chance to sit next to the tall, blond, and buff man. Barton sat beside Joann, leaving the only available seat being the one between him and Pepper. Little didn't let it show that she wasn't all that willing to be seated beside him. Every dished out their choice in food from the great array that they had prepared throughout the day. The table was laden with ham, fruit salads, macaroni salads, three different kinds of pie, two different kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and an array of fruits and vegetables.

Fury looked around the penthouse with a little nod. "Nice place yah got here, Stark."

The man smiled and held his arms out to the sides. "Isn't it, though? Had to fix it up a bit after the Hulk put some Loki-shaped holes in the floor. Not to mention the me-shaped hole in the window." He smiled at everyone at the table in the hopes of a hearty laugh, a light titter even! Yet…nothing. He frowned at them. "Kill joys, all of you!"

Now that got a laugh.

Joann leaned forward slightly and looked over Romanoff. "So, Natasha, what's your special talent? What makes _you_ special?"

The redhead locked eyes with her. She was just as cocky, if not cockier, than her twin sister. The question was obviously asked out of malice. "I have a very specific skill set. If I felt like it—which I'm getting there—I could kill you and you'd never have a chance to fight back."

Little put a hand to her face. "Guys, it's Christmas, can we not do thi—"

A thunderclap boomed overhead.

Everyone looked out the window. The sky had been perfectly clear not moments before and the few stars that could be seen over New York had been shining beautifully that Christmas night. Now, however, clouds that were flashing were rolling across the skies. They held their breaths as the intensity of the storm began to grow. Streaks of lightning flashed across the sky in a dance of brilliance.

Fury stood first and made his way over to the windows. "I'll be damned."

Everyone followed…Everyone save Joann. She stayed in her seat, almost cowering. "Is it safe to be this high with a storm like that going on?"

Stark smirked. "The storm will pass much quicker than you expect."

The Avengers all shared a knowing glance.

Little held out a hand to her sister. "C'mon, you'll want to see this."

Hesitantly, Joann stood and followed her sister as they walked up to the window. She was the only one to squeal and give a little leap when something slammed down onto the balcony. She peeked around her sister's shoulder from where she was cowering. Her jaw hit the floor when she saw whatever hit the balcony straighten into one of the tallest people she had ever seen. She was utterly shocked when the clouds, lightning, and thunder instantly began to fade away back into nothingness, leaving the night beautiful once more.

Everyone backed away from the window as the figure stepped inside.

"_Friends!_"

Stark laughed long and loud as he approached the towering figure. "You make a better entrance than I do, I'll give you that!"

Joann watched in fear as the towering man laughed heartily and greeted the rest of the group. That was, until his eyes fell on her.

"Ah! The small agent!"

She screamed in terror as the man gave her a crushing hug.

"The last time I laid eye upon you, you were lying in a bed and broken! It is good to see you are well again!"

Little rushed up to the man. "Thor! Thor! Put her down! That is my sister!"

The incredibly tall man looked down at the tiny (to him) woman then to the woman who gazed upon him in unbridled terror. He did this many times before simply opening his arms and allowed Joann to fall to the floor in a bit of a heap. "My apologies, Miss. You look exactly like the woman I know as Small."

Joann gulped and looked at her sister. "Leigh?"

Her twin looked to Thor. "First, it's _Little_ not _Small_, Thor. My name is _Little_."

"But little and small are the same thing. Would it be best to refer to you as Fauna instead?"

She sighed. "You know what, call me whatever tickles your fancy, in the mean time let me introduce my twin sister, Joann. Thor, this is Joann, Joann, this is Thor Odinson, God of Thunder, Son of Asgard, and those are the only titles I recall."

Joann held out a hand, fearing it would be crushed.

Thor took it gently and bowed his head over it. "Tis a pleasure to meet the sister of my ally. I am sorry for my conduct." He turned from her to Stark and Fury. "Now, there is a matter I mus—"

"Hey! What the hell is _he _doing here?"

Heads turned to see none other than the Trickster himself standing in the doorway, having been ignored during Thor's grand entrance.

Thor walked over and brought his step-brother in by the shoulder. "This is the matter. Father has stripped Loki of his powers and put him under my charge while at the same time I have been discharged back to Midgard to return to my post as Protector. I assure you that my brother is no greater than any mortal walking along the streets below."

Everyone eyed the two and noticed a resounding difference. Thor was adorned in his usual leggings, boots, armored breast-plate, and flowing red cape whereas Loki was dressed in what looked like trousers and a long-sleeved top. They had never had a reason not to trust the god before, why start now?

Joann stared at the pale man with the inky black hair. He stood well over a foot taller than she, but a touch shorter than his brother. Where his brother was large and muscular, Loki's was a much leaner physique. She found herself appraising him with a single brow arched and eyes scanning up and down. Oh, he was _much _better than the captain. Much, _much_ better.

Rogers stepped forward and grasped at his role as leader of the team. "Alright. If he's under your control and you can promise that he won't cause trouble again, than there is little we can do to dissuade the decision of the…I forget what your father is called."

Thor nodded. "The Allfather. Thank you, Rogers, for understanding. Now, if I do believe what Heimdall has told me, today is a day of celebration here on Midgard?"

Little smiled. "Christmas. We were just having dinner. There might even be enough food to sate your god-like appetite."

Loki was growing bored of the simple niceties and stepped forward. "Shall we end this? I grow tired of your pleasantries."

Many eyes glared at the newly mortal god. However, instead of striking up a rather nasty argument they just migrated back towards the table. Rogers retrieved two extra chairs for the Asgardians. Unfortunately, Little had been wrong. Thor had mentioned that had his companion Volstagg been present their supposed feast would be little more than a snack to the large man. As it was, Thor was able to clear away half of the meal on his own, and that was with pacing himself and denying himself seconds…thirds…and fifths. Aside from eating, there was one thing that everybody at the table noticed except the subject. It was almost embarrassingly obvious to Little that her sister was continuously making eyes at Loki. Little almost wanted to make an open announcement apologizing for her sister's actions. Instead, she rode out the dinner trying her best not to snap at her twin and to continue to make polite conversation with the rest of the group. Only one person wasn't joining the conversation: Loki. He was too busy trying to seem as though he had no idea the mortal woman was staring at him as nonchalantly as possible for her.

But, of course, Joann wasn't the only one doing some nonchalant staring…

As the dinner drew to a close and the festivities turned towards the more Stark Approved activities, Little was able to pulled her sister aside. When they were well enough away from the rest of the group, she gave her a gentle whack on the arm. "Have you no shame? Do you know how obvious it is that you were staring at _Loki_ the entire dinner? Loki!" Her voice was a harsh whisper. "Do you know who he _is? _Loki is the man who almost caused the end of the world as we know it. Had the Avengers not been there you wouldn't be able to make those cow-eyes at that man seeing as how you'd be enslaved along with the rest of us!"

Joann brushed her off with a wave. "You over exaggerate. If you guys weren't there than the X-Men would be and the problem would have been solved."

Little tried her hardest not to throttle her sister. "You are such a pain in the ass! Just do us _all _a favor and stop trying to make it obvious to him that you'd like to get in his pants."

With a toss of her long curls, Joann held up her hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, I'll stop gawking. But, I mean, c'mon! You have to admit he is a fine looking man."

Her twin sister tried her hardest not to openly gag. There was something about kicking a guy's ass in a fight that instantly made them less attractive. Shaking her head she walked away to strike up a conversation with Thor about anything that didn't include her sister.

* * *

The clock was very close to shifting their world from night into very early morning when Joann finally left. Of course, before she went she gave Loki a rather meaningful look. Once their only guest who didn't live at the Tower was gone, Stark showed the new arrivals to their rooms. Thor thanked Stark for his rather impressive attempt at making his room seem as much like home as possible. Loki, however, found his room to be less than adequate and began demanding certain changes. Things didn't get any better when Stark just laughed before walking over to the elevator and heading back up to the penthouse with Pepper.

In her bedroom, Little sat cross-legged on her bed in her pajamas with Ember in her lap. The kitten was rather miffed that she hadn't been invited to dinner, but excused it when she heard that her mama's sister would get very sick if they were even in the same room for too long. Before climbing beneath the sheets she noticed her closet door was open. Standing, she crossed the floor in only a few strides. A frown came to her face. Just before shutting the door she happened to see a package wrapped in packing paper inside a plastic bag on the floor of her closet. She shut the door and went back to her bed. She would just have to find someone else who would find the gift useful seeing as how there was far too small a chance that Barton would be the recipient.

Or…

Or perhaps Barton _could _be the recipient of the Christmas present she had bought a month earlier and that's when she would tell him what she and Pepper had discussed.

Little smiled.

There was hope.

**A/N Oh my gosh. I'm sooo sorry for the long wait and for the super long chapter! This is now the longest chapter yet. If this keeps going I'll have chapters well over 7, 8, maybe even 9 thousand words O.O I honestly believe, though, that I won't let it come to that :) I promise no chapter will ever be longer than 7,000 words! Now, let's see if I can keep that promise!**

**Like it? Love it? Want to bitch at me for taking so long? REVIEW! Please :)**


	30. Better Than Anticipated

**A/N I put myself at your mercy seeing as how this chapter took forever. I admit I do have some valid explanations. One, my mother dragged me to the lake almost every day last week and we camped over the weekend. Two, on Monday night my friend was rushed to the ER after falling into an exposed man-hole (she's fine, just a concussion!) Three, I just got a new job and had a training day. On that note, seeing as how I've got a job, chapters might actually take longer. I'm unsure…Perhaps the time at work will give me the mental stretch I need to really think it all over. Who knows. Anyway! Here's a good, _long _chapter. Perhaps my longest yet!**

**Also, I have found the beauty in the page break. Haha, it only took me countless fanfictions before figuring out how to do it XD**

**Chapter Thirty: Better Than Anticipated **

The two months that followed Christmas was wholly uneventful for the inhabitants of Stark Tower. Everyone seemed to be molding deeper into their own personal lives. The start of a fresh, new year brought promise for Stark Industries. This meant the man and his girlfriend spent most of their time either running around the Tower or traveling around the country. Seeing as how Stark and Pepper were occupied with the business that meant Banner was practically chained to the lab (not like he wasn't before…) working on new projects and getting things started for the lesser employees working in research and development. While the lab dwellers were busy, Rogers took this time to explore more of New York and—by extension—some of the neighboring states. He wanted to catch up on everything that had changed in the places he had known back in the day. Boy…Had a lot changed. Well, he needed something to do seeing as how Romanoff and Barton spent most the time away on missions, having perhaps only a day or two each week to themselves. He'd never tell anyone, but he missed the redhead when she was gone, especially since Romanoff was usually the buffer between himself and Agent Little. Rogers still didn't understand why she disliked him so much. Ever since the battle, Romanoff had been teaching him how to adjust to life in the twenty-first century. She had succeeded as he was now quite capable, but understanding women? Never going to happen.

On a day the captain chose not to hit to the streets on his bike he was lounging on the Rec Level watching one of the many movies Stark had put in his room. Well, he was watching a series of movies. The _Star_ _Wars_ movies had prodded at his interest as he was looking over the shelf and he decided that his day would be unproductively productive. Anyway, _Star_ _Wars_ was a huge deal with plenty of people in this era so it would be a good thing to understand them. What he didn't understand was why the fourth, fifth, and sixth movies were made before the first three! It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he survived the rest of the day and finish the series while he was at it.

During _Star_ _Wars_: _Attack_ _of_ _the_ _Clones _he heard the light thumping of someone coming down the stairs. Tilting his head back he saw the top of a person's head. Seeing as how no one else living in the building had jet black curls that nearly reached their shoulders. After righting his head, pausing the movie, and turning to face her he greeted her with a decently cheerful, "Good day, Little."

She looked at him as she rummaged through a stack of papers. "Uh…Hey." She threw the stack into an empty chair and began searching through a drawer in one of the side tables in the room.

"Can I ask what you're looking for?"

Little slammed the drawer when she couldn't find it. "I jotted down the address of this café I'm meeting a friend at for lunch and I can't find it anywhere! I can't even remember what street it's supposed to be on. I know it's supposed to be near Central Park, but, I mean, c'mon! There are too many of those to just try and search through them all." She started digging through another drawer. Fury had eased up on her lockdown about halfway through January. She was no longer forced to "sneak" out now. He had extended her reach in the Tower to the lab, the penthouse, and the gym, but no further. Little thought it was rather funny. Oh, she knew Fury knew she was still finding ways to get wherever she wanted to be, but she was still one of his favorites even if she had caused him a butt-load of problems due to her little slip-up at the party. "Damn it! Does no one clean all this up? I swear, I'm going to bite to Stark! I know half of these are his stupid scribbles!" It wasn't entirely false. Stark did have a habit for ruining any magazine or newspaper page with thoughts and doodles for work or the rather common mustache so long as the page didn't have his face or name on it.

Being the gentleman he was, Rogers stood and nodded towards one of the slightly cluttered tables she had yet to attack. "Would you like some help?"

Little looked up at him through narrowed, then nodded and returned to her furious digging. "Yeah…Thanks. It's on a small scrap of paper, about the size of note card."

As he searched he tried to make small talk, just to see if she'd take the bait. "Why can't you just call up this friend and ask for it again? Or perhaps tell them you'll be late?"

She stood up straight and gave him a look. "I don't ask for an address more than once. Losing it either from memory or the piece of paper it was on show irresponsibility."

"But you've lost it now…"

Little only growled at him before continuing her search.

"So…Why the rush? Avoiding someone in particular?"

Another growl.

Rogers knew who she was avoiding. Hell, it was nice to see her avoiding someone other than him or Barton for once. Little was avoiding her sister, who had been spending much of her time at the Tower now for some odd reason. Rumor had it that the younger twin had "the hots"—which Natasha told him that meant liking someone—for the newly mortal Loki.

"If you must ask, _yes_. Joann is here _again _and she simply _won't _leave! She says she wants to held get the princes adjusted to life here on Earth. She's a help, I admit, but if you ask me the only one who _really_ needs help is Thor. You know, I caught him the other day smacking the microwave and demanding that the small man tell him what the whether was to be like. When I asked him what he was doing he said that the television wasn't working. Oddly enough—after a rather terrifyingly quiet approach—Loki was the one to explain that the device is used by us Midgardians to cook food. I would've laughed, but I'm scared of what happens when you insult an Asgardian pri—_Yes_! _Found_ _it_!" She held a crumpled looking piece of paper aloft and did a little victory wiggle.

Rogers stared at her through wide eyes and returned to the couch. "Well…Alright then…I'm just going to go back to watching this movie."

Little looked up and focused on the screen for a moment. A cruel smirk came to her face. "Anakin and Padme get married in the end after he loses his hand to Count Dooku in a duel."

The man groaned and was half tempted to throw something at her for ruining part of the end of the movie for him. However, by the time he decided to hurl a throw pillow in her general direction all that was left was the rather cliché fluttering curtain and a wide open window. He hunkered down and pressed play so he could finish the movie. The movie hadn't been playing for twenty second when he heard the whirring of the elevator and the _ding! _of the door opening.

"Hey! Steve! Have you seen Leigh? She was supposed to help me Thor and Loki about doing laundry."

He grimaced and pressed pause. Managing to turn his frown upside down before looking at her, he shook his head. "You just missed her. She flew out the window about thirty seconds ago."

Joann slammed a fist into her hand. "Damn it! She said she'd help me! I swear I'm going to dust her pillows with pollen for this!"

Rogers suddenly realized just why Little had been in such a rush to leave. He shrugged. "Sorry, I'm sure you can handle it by yourself tho—"

"Hey! Here's a thought! How about you help? I mean, you just learned how to use the new fangled stuff so you'd be able to help them too! Just think, you'd be helping people who were once in the same situation as yourself! That, and you'd be doing me a huge favor. I work well with Loki, but Thor usually takes more patience than I have. _Please?_" She had a big smile on her face and was ever so slightly batting her eyelashes.

He looked from her to the television and back again. To whine or not to whine? That is the question…He sighed. Damn his gentlemanly ways...Standing and grabbing the remote her turned off the TV and walked over. "Alright…fine…"

Joann beamed a smile and grabbed him by the elbow, yanking him towards the elevator. "Great! So, we're going to start with…"

Rogers stopped listening and instead began to wonder just how the five-foot-two woman with a rather weak looking frame was able to yank him around as though he were nothing. Ah well…

* * *

Little sat across the small table from Peter. She was stirring her lukewarm coffee with a finger. Usually she would have finished her coffee before the temperature dropped enough for it to be safe for a human to touch, but she had spent most of her time finally getting around to explain her predicament to Peter. It had taken her two months to gain the courage and finally tell Peter why they couldn't be anymore than friends. She couldn't make eye contact with him. Over the past two months he had become one of her best friends. She saw him five out of seven days a week and they always talked about anything and everything that came to mind. It hurt deep in the confines of her heart to know that even though they were compatible and at ease with one another, nothing could ever become of it.

Peter took a drink of his after lifting it in a silent toast to her. "Can't say I'm not disappointed. I'd really been hoping that we'd actually label whatever it is that we are."

She ran a hand through her black curls. "I won't say I don't agree."

"So, why haven't you talked to him about this yet?"

Her finger dipped back into the now cold coffee to stir it aimlessly again. "He's been busy. Boss Man as him working constantly. I don't see him for more than a few hours every time he gets back. He's usually pretty tired and I'm trying my best to avoid any serious confrontation, though it makes me seem cold towards him…and I'm a coward. I'm honestly scared of telling him. I mean, how would you take it if your ex-girlfriend sat you down and told you she loved you after _she _was the one to break it off in the first place?"

He nodded as he leaned comfortably back in his seat. "You make a good point. I'd probably ask her when she got the concussion that's obviously causing her insanity. When do you plan on telling him?"

Little dared to sip the cold coffee and snarled at the taste. After flagging down the sole waitress to get a fresh cup, she gave a shrug. "I don't know…He's gone right now, so maybe I'll get the lady balls to ask him to talk with me instead of brushing past him and ignoring him…" When the fresh coffee arrived she practically dove head first into the steaming black liquid. By the time she finally came up for air her face was red from the heat. She slammed the empty mug down in an almost Thor-like way. She stared into the empty cup for a few moments before looking up to Peter. "Do you wanna get outta here?"

Without hesitation Peter stood and tossed down their payment for the drinks plus a tip for the waitress and extended the crook of his elbow to her. "With you? Anywhere."

Despite the realization that Barton was the only man for her, Little couldn't deny the fact that she found Peter's smile charming in that devious yet shy sort of way. Smiling back, she hooked her arm with his as they walked out of the little café and took to the busy sidewalks. They crossed the traffic filled lanes and made their way into the park. As they walked around either on the paved paths or taking to the lawn, Little made a game of translating what the squirrels, birds, or dogs in the park were saying. First, she would ask Peter was he thought, than tell him whether he was right or completely off base. She nearly collapsed into a fit of giggles when he was absolutely certain that the pair of squirrels chasing each other were chattering away about the chaser getting some tail from the other.

She covered her mouth to stop from interrupting the rest of the park with a loud laugh. It was through breaths and giggles that she managed to get out, "They're both male!"

Her problem wasn't helped when Peter put his hands on his hips, gave her a look, and asked, "You're point? Do _you _know those squirrels' sexual preference?"

It was more than she could handle and almost too much for her bladder!

Little plopped down on a nearby bench to catch her breath and gave him a smile. "Well, I would ask but I feel that's a slightly more personal matter they might not want to discuss with a wandering human. Especially when half of the animals I talk to at first kinda freak out at first. Domestic animals have a basic understanding of the possible meanings behind human language. We interpret them and they interpret us. I once scared an animal so bad it ran into open traffic. That poor squirrel…" She shrugged and turned a curious eye on him. "Anyway, I was wondering if you had…" Little stopped and her eyes squinted as she stared into the sky, highly focused.

Peter turned his head to follow where her eyes were set. In the sky above New York City was a compact black jet. It was slowly hovering its way over to the top of Stark Tower. He turned to her. "Looks like he's back."

Her eyes dropped to her hands. "Yeah." Looking up to the Tower she saw the quinjet landing and took to her feet. A sudden surge of confidence filled her. She had a strange feeling that if she didn't do it now she would never do it. "I have to go."

Before she could walk away he caught her by the hand. "Let me walk with you."

Little looked up to the top of the building, almost certain she could see figures on the balcony. Turning back to him she only smiled.

* * *

Standing a top the balcony of one of the tallest buildings in New York City, Natasha Romanoff was staring down at the ground far below. She stood with her back straight and her arms crossed over her chest. The mission she and Barton returned from had not been a particularly strenuous one. It was a routine bag-n-grab, nothing more, nothing less. There was certainly no reason for Director Fury to return to the Tower with them, but she had convinced him to come. There was something he needed to see. Ever since The Incident (as she called it) between Little and Barton at the party things had been tense between them. Now, Romanoff knew that while most agents were smart and didn't let their personal feelings get the better of them she had this sinking feeling that if the ex-couple couldn't at least tolerate being in the same room as one another than should they ever get thrown into the mix together all would turn to shit. Her plan was simple. While she wasn't aiming to play Cupid, she _was _hoping that this would all end with Little and Barton stopping their petty and childish ways. She shook her head slightly. _This is _exactly_ why love is for children._

Fury stood beside the redhead with his arms clasped behind his back. "You really expect me to do this, Agent Romanoff? She's only been suspended a couple months and I had hoped to make her squirm. She needs to learn her lesson. Not to mention he didn't seem too ecstatic about the idea."

They never once looked at each other as they watched the teeming masses below.

"Yes, sir, I do, and believe me. She's squirming. Also, this is exactly what they need to right their little issue."

"And if it doesn't work?"

Romanoff took a while to answer. Something below had caught her eye. Instead of responding to her commanding officer she followed the rail of the balcony to the right and stared down. If she had Barton's eyes she would've been able to discern if the two figures below were who she thought they were. Alas, stronger eyes weren't necessary. From high above she could make out the couple moving behind a dumpster and embrace. For a moment she let the idea that they could simply be an amorous couple seeking refuge from the eyes of the New Yorkers, but when they broke apart and who she was certain was the woman suddenly shrank and disappeared her thoughts were confirmed. _And I thought Barton was just being paranoid when he said she was seeing someone._ A bird took flight from behind the trash bin and winged upward toward the balcony. She turned to the director. "It will."

Mere moments after she spoke a rather plain looking pigeon landed on the rail. After it strutted back and forth for a moment, head bobbing in that birdy fashion, the feathery creature stilled and began to grow. Little's change was quick and clean, though not as swift as usual. There was no rush, after all. Fury noticed that her change often started at one part of the body and moved towards the other end. She smiled at her boss. "Director Fury, haven't seen you around here since Christmas. Come to check up on Thor and Loki? I'll admit that the former is a tad slower at picking up what it's like living here. At first it seemed he might have a slight advantage due to his little trip to New Mexico, but it seems Loki's attempt at ruling us has given him a leg-up. It may interest you to know that my sister has been around more. She seems to have taken an interest in Loki, which makes me question her sanity. Anyway, she's been a help, even if she's an annoying prat."

Fury let her go on. It was a habit most agents seemed to pick up to instantly report any form of important information to the director whenever they met one-on-one. He nodded when she finished. "Good. However, I'm not here for them. I'm here for you. There's a mission that we believe you would be the best choice to send."

Had Little not had strong reflexes she would have gone tumbling from her rather small seat on the railing. Her face lifted into a brilliant smile. "Is my suspension done with?"

"Yes." Fury lifted a finger and pointed it in her face. "For now. This is your trial mission. Should you fail you're back on suspension. Understood?"

Little jumped from the rail and snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!" Nothing could hide her smile. Between the time she woke up to the Christmas party she hadn't been sent on any missions due to medical reasons and the fact that once healed it didn't seem she wasn't needed if someone else could do the job as well. She had been perfectly fine with that situation. However, once she was better but couldn't do anything because she had gotten her nose shoved in a corner it was unbearable to do nothing. After a while watching television and training became annoyingly repetitive. Her eyes were a glow with excitement. "When?"

Fury turned and started towards the door. The two agents followed him. "Immediately. Barton is prepping as we speak. You will both be briefed on the way."

Little stopped walking. "My partner is _Barton_?" A hint of malice and perhaps disgust laced her words.

The large man looked at her over his shoulder. "Is there a problem with that, Agent Little? If that's the case I'll reinstate your suspension."

She tried her best not to spit out her words. "No, sir. It's perfectly fine."

He nodded. "Good. Get ready. We take off in five."

Little walked ahead of the man and took the stairs down a level. Once she was out of earshot of her boss the stomping began. She wasn't afraid to slam her feet down with each step and slam each door she passed through. In her bedroom she wrenched open the closet with a ferocity that terrified Ember, who had been sleeping contently on her overstuffed cat bed. She hissed at her mama and demanded an explanation. Little huffed a sigh as she grabbed the uniform she hadn't slipped into for many months. "Oh, bite me, Ember. I'm too pissed to deal with your diva attitude today."

This only got her another hiss. The kitten had grown into her teenage behavior as she approached the end of her seventh month of life. She was a whopping nine pounds of pure fluffy attitude now. The sweet, loving kitten was still there, but a snooty behavioral pattern was beginning to show.

Little stripped and redressed as quickly as possible as she grabbed her worn boots and the always packed bag of spare clothes from the closet. "Alright! I'm sorry! Jeez! I'm going on a mission. I don't know how long I'll be gone. I'm stuck with Barton. If you need anything, see Uncle Bruce."

Ember hopped onto the bed and stared her mama down. She let out a rather adorable sounding meow that stopped Little for a moment.

The woman pursed her lips. "I asked you nicely to stop calling him that. He isn't your daddy anymore."

Ember just huffed a breath before returning to her bed to sleep.

Before parting from her room, Little grabbed a couple hair bands from the bathroom and started working on her hair as she took the stairs two at a time up the two levels to the roof of the building. Time was almost up. They'd be leaving soon. As she pushed through the door and onto the roof she was met with gazes from her boss and partner. She dipped her chin in acknowledgement of them both before the three of them climbed through the hatchway of the jet.

While the agents settled, Fury began his briefing. "There is a rising mercenary in South Africa. Lefu Adao. He is gaining a large following and fast. The plan is to get in and take him out without a trace."

Little's brows came together as she tied off the end of a French braid on the right side of her head before switching over to the left. When it was long she would've simply tied it back, but some of her hair couldn't reach a tie just yet and it was annoying if left free at times like this. "But sir, if he falls won't one of his followers step up? Especially seeing as how he's going to be assassinated. Someone's going to be pissed."

She shot a glare at Barton when he scoffed.

Fury shook his head. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Little? If he falls to a _natural _cause, they won't be as quick to jump."

The gears quickly turned in her mind and she almost went red with embarrassment. How had she missed such an obvious answer? _She _was doing the assassinating by becoming an animal that could take out this mercenary. She tried not to make eye contact with the men while she finished her hair and Fury continued.

"Little, you'll be going in under the cover of whichever creature you chose while Barton will be posted atop a taller building. He's watching your back. Now, I'd suggest something small or thin, Little." He pulled out a tablet and pulled up images of the area and building she would be going through. He showed them the floor plan and the most strategic entrances. The only kink in the hose was that they weren't entirely certain which room housed the head man. Little assured her boss she'd do a few fly-arounds to locate the wanted room. The plan was that the agents would be housed in a low-grade cabin of sorts until the time was right to do their thing. Little would take daily trips over and around the compound the mercenary controlled. It was up to her to designate the go time. She tried not to show it as they made their way towards the tip of the African continent, but Little was incredibly nervous. She had been out of the game for quite some time and feared she'd make the wrong calls. Once could only hope.

* * *

"You have got to be _fucking _kidding _me!_" Little came raging out of a doorway in the rather ramshackle place they were staying at. She threw the drawstring bag across the room in her fury. She ground her teeth together. Someone was going to pay for this.

Barton, who was lounging on the ragged couch, gave her a look. "Anything the matter?"

She sneered at him. "Oh, nothing at all! However, you might be a little peeved to find there's only _one _bed." She retrieved the bag and tossed it none too ceremoniously onto the couch beside him. "Looks like you get the couch."

He stood and stared her down. "I'm sorry, what?" He shook his head with narrowed eyes. "Or, perhaps I'll take the bed and you can turn into a dog and sleep on the floor."

They glared at each other for a few moments. The past two months had not been kind on the tension between them. When they couldn't avoid one another things turned ugly, often ending in snide remarks. Little would often degrade his talents and had once tossed the phrase 'worthless human' into the mix while Barton took shots at her shape-shifting abilities in some of the most derogatory ways, many times crossing dangerous lines.

Little squared her shoulders and held her chin up. She wasn't going to let him get the best of her this time. "I'll sleep on the couch." She brushed past him and began fixing up the piece of furniture as best she could.

Barton said nothing as he grabbed his own bag and tossed it into the bedroom before shutting the door rather harshly behind him.

The next few days were pure torture for the both of them in two extraordinarily different ways. They were forced to be within close proximity of each other unless they were scouting the area or sleeping. Along with that there was the fact that they _had _to talk about recent developments. Credit had to be given since they seemed able to do this without insulting each other after the first day. The origin of the other form of torture could be found in their pants. Being in such close quarters made bumping elbows a common problem. They were currently tit for tat on walking in on each other more than once. The first time was Barton exiting the bedroom and walking right into a half-naked Little. The next time was when she tried to wake him by knocking and when that didn't work she left herself into the bedroom. Barton had kicked off the blankets, was flat on his back, in nothing but his boxers, and it was morning. She wouldn't deny the slight flush that came to her as she quickly backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Oh, the sexual tension…

It was late afternoon on the fifth day that she returned from one of her forays. She found him sitting on the couch with his tablet out going over the building plans and making notes on where the guards were so that he could lend aid to her entrance and exit properly. After clearing her throat, she spoke. "Tonight."

Barton looked up from the electronic and raised a brow. "You positive?"

She nodded. "Tonight."

He stood and walked over to her. No point in not at least attempting professionalism. "So, what are you doing to get in and where?"

They spent the next couple hours going over and finalizing all the important details, making sure that they had everything completely memorized. One forgotten step could ruin the entire operation. She would come up from the south as an ordinary bird and disappear from view behind a nearby trash bin or other large object to hide behind. From there she would take the form of a black mamba and slip into the building through the ventilation. The plan was to drop in on the mercenary, load him up with the neuro- and cardiotoxins possessed by the deadly snake. So long as no one had the anti-venom he would be dead in no time flat. Quick, easy, and leaving no human trace. An accident.

Barton and Little stood atop the tall building that looked over the one she would soon be sneaking into. This was where he would stake out and keep his sharp eyes peeled for her. They went over the plan one last time before she shifted and flew away. Barton kept his eyes locked on her figure. He wouldn't be able to see her once she dropped into her chosen hiding spot and got into the building. He made himself comfortable as he watched her dip out of sight. The biggest thing he had to watch for was the man or the guards. Should Adao leave they would have to back out and try again. If the guards were alerted there was a highly poisonous snake in the area they would try their hardest to rid the world of the black-mouthed reptile. There was nothing for a long while. _Looks like everything is going according to plan. _

Cardinal rule of assassinations: Never assume everything is going right.

Shouting and running came from everywhere.

"_Slang! Slang!_"

The Afrikaans word for snake was being tossed around. Barton didn't know much of the language aside from the very basic hello and goodbye, but he was certain Little had been seen. He poised himself, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. His eyes were darting around the building in the hopes of seeing a long, slithering line leaving the building. Nothing. He tensed. Where was she?

Gunshots.

His chest began heaving with frantic breathing.

"_Sluip!_"

A door flew open and out stumbled Little. Men were hot on her tail. Barton saw that she was limping slightly and it seemed the cause of it was in her left leg.

_Her knee._

She swung at some of the men and was able to stay out of their hands.

Barton didn't wait. He loosed an arrow followed by another and another and another. He kept firing as he watched her limp as she ran a well out of the way before shifting. After one last arrow he left the roof top and kept his eyes skyward on the small figure flapping furious wings towards their base of operations. Barton followed her as fast as he could. He had to know what happened.

Little showed up at their base only moments before Barton. He walked in to find her on the couch with her head in one hand and the other massaging her knee. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily.

Barton walked up to her. "What happened?" He spoke in a voice that one just hid the worrying undertones. "Are you alright?" She said nothing. "Little? What happened?" Again, nothing. "Kaleigh?"

She snapped. "I'm fine! Nothing happened!" Well, that was an obvious lie. She stood and limped over to the fridge that barely worked. "Adao is dead. I stayed to make sure he was beyond repair before I left. I was just about to leave when one of his walked into the room. He saw me hiding in the corner. He alerted the others there was a snake—exactly what we _didn't_ want. I meant to get back into the vents, but he was blocking it. I had to go through the halls. There must have been a dozen of them chasing me. I'm sure I bit a few of them who got too close. After making a sharp turn and hiding they ran right by me I took a chance and turned back. Their uniforms aren't too different from ours. You know, militaristic and all that jazz. I couldn't have been human for more than ten seconds before I was found out. My face probably gave me away. I don't do undercover the way Tasha does…Anyway, the2y chased me out, guns blazing. I think someone threw a book or a brick or something at me. It hit the back of my knee, making me stumble." Her cool demeanor fell away as she then glared at him. "I had everything under control, but you had to go and ruin it!"

He instantly jumped on the defensive. "What do you mean I ruined it! I saved your ass!"

"I was going to let them chase me off! I would've risked a bullet wound, too! For all they know I could've been someone just sneaking in to spy! You really think they're stupid enough to think that the suddenly disappearing snake has nothing to do with the woman who showed up out of nowhere and high-tailed it after a dozen guys were shot down?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. With a sneer firmly planted on her face she grabbed the communicator off the counter and pressed a few buttons. A signal was sent to a SHIELD van waiting hidden in another part of the area that would take them to the jet. Silence reigned as they packed their few things and left the building. Both were fuming. Little was pissed because he ruined her plan. Barton was pissed because she was being an ungrateful bitch. He saved her life, Damnit! They moved swiftly and silently through the streets to the meeting point. The car ride was almost unbearable as they both began to formulate the argument they knew was coming. As they rolled out of town and towards the hidden jet Little made the necessary calls and explained the situation. Yes, Adao was dead. No, they hadn't gone completely unnoticed. Yes, he died from the snake bites. There was no _real _proof the woman and snake were connected, or so they hoped. Fury wasn't pleased. He had expected things to go well. The best he could say was that the bad guy was no more and that, he supposed, would be good enough for now.

* * *

The quinjet landed on the top of the Stark Tower to drop off the two agents. They got off in silence. Before returning to the Tower they had gone to SHIELD HQ to explain what went wrong and for the debriefing. Directly after that they got onto the jet and left. The plane ride had been as horrible as the car ride. Little and Barton made their way down the stairs to the Suite Floor. They remained silent until the door to the stairwell was shut behind.

Then it began.

"I don't see why you're so pissed. I saved your ass out there."

Little rounded on him with a finger in his face. "Don't start with this shit, Barton! You could've blown the entire thing! Why couldn't you just wait a few moments to make sure I actually _needed _your help!"

"From where I was that's what it looked like! You _were_ hurt!"

"It was a little twinge in my bad knee!"

Their shouting continued back and forth and quite soon the sound fell through the floor to the living area below. The Avengers were all lounging around, watching a movie. Loki had chosen not to join in the film watching. Instead, he sat in a chair out of the way with a book by a Midgardian author by the name of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Not bad, not bad…Meanwhile, Rogers had finally gotten around to being able to finish the Star Wars movies and the others had decided to jump on the chance. They were zeroing in on the last thirty minutes of the sixth movie. The volume was up, but Banner swore he could hear something that didn't resemble the movie at all. _What is that? _Reaching for the remote he paused it.

"Hey!"

"Woah! What the hell, man!"

Banner shushed them all with arms outspread and looked up at the ceiling. "Listen."

Silence fell upon them as each of them heard the stepping and stomping of two sets of feet and the loud yet dull words.

Thor looked up at the ceiling with his brows arched. "It appears Small and Barton have returned."

"Thor, for the millionth time, her name is Little, not Small." Romanoff slumped back and crossed her arms. "And my plan failed."

"Your plan?"

The redhead turned to the questioning doctor. "The plan was that they were supposed to do this mission and come back with their issues at least partially resolved. Seeing as how she's now partially reinstated they'll probably be working together more often. This was supposed to be about them getting over their childish problems and being able to at least tolerate one another."

Stark snorted a chuckle. "Oh, they're definitely tolerating one another!" He turned his attention to the frozen images on the screen. "Jarvis, pull up the image of what's going on upstairs, please."

_"Of course, sir."_

Rogers audibly groaned as the movie disappeared and the video of the arguing couple popped up. He would never finish the series!

_"For the last time! I wasn't hurt!"_

_ "Even if you weren't, you were still in a bad spot!"_

Banner eyed Stark. "You could at least give them some privacy."

With a roll of his brown eyes, the billionaire waved him off. "Fine, fine. Jarvis, cut the audio."

_"You've been horr—"_

The sound cut off just as Little got in Barton's face.

Pepper, who was nestled beside Stark, frowned at the sight of the couple arguing. Obviously Little hadn't taken the time during their mission to confront the man. She had hoped their one-on-one time would be good for them. Apparently she had been wrong.

Stark smirked. "Wanna take bets on when the first punch is thrown?"

Rogers balked at the very idea. "You'd think he'd hit her!"

A bellowing laugh burst forth from the demi-god. "Haha! T'would be a sight to see one so small take on the archer!"

Surprisingly, it was Banner who spoke next. "No." There was a chuckle in his voice. "If anything, she'll swing at him."

Pepper watched their argument go back and forth for a few moments and felt a small smile come to her face. This was an argument she recognized. "No one's hitting anyone, trust me."

They looked at the redhead for a moment before returning their attention to the television and watching in silence…for all of ten seconds. Stark decided he'd have some fun and add-lib whatever they were saying. The sad part was that while his impression of Barton was pretty spot-on his overly feminine voice for Little made everyone groan. For a woman she had a deeper voice and his rather soprano-esque portrayal was so far off it was just said. While on his feet, he twisted back and forth as though talking to himself.

He cocked a hip and pointed a finger at no one in particular. "Clint, you big meanie head, I was doing just fine on my own!"

His voice deepened as he feigned a wound. "But Fifi! My darling! You were surrounded by hundreds of men! You needed me!"

"Who needs a jealous waste of space like _you_?"

The group all tried to ignore him and watch the silent argument unfold.

"Why wouldn't I be jealous? You go and spend all of your time with that delicious hunk of man meat Bruce Banner and you expect me to just sit back and smile? For all I know you could've been contaminating all of his samples with your lady jui—"

"_Tony_!"

Nothing could stop him now. He switched back over to his impersonation of Little. "What do I look like? Some three-dollar whore?"

"Not at all, but looks can be deceiving!"

At that point, Little stomped away from Barton on the screen, throwing her hands up as though she was finished.

Stark grinned happily and mocked her movements. "Oh! Go shove an arrow up your ass, Clint! I don't need this bullshit!"

The strange part was that Stark was actually getting the basic idea of the argument correct.

He was just about to speak for Barton when he stopped. After sucking in a deep breath that was meant to be let out in a shouting demand that Little return, Stark's chest deflated and all eyes were suddenly glued to the screen. Without the audio they had no clue what was going on. Barton had obviously said something that made the raven haired woman stop dead in her tracks before she could walk down the hall and end the fight.

Stark sat back down. "Jarvis! Turn the audio back on!"

_"Yes, sir."_

There was a heavily pregnant pause. Both upstairs and downstairs there was complete silence as everyone seemed to hold their breaths.

_"What?"_

Her voice was breathy and almost too quiet for the huddled group to hear.

Stark ate a rather noisy mouthful of popcorn, which earned him a smack on the leg from his girlfriend and her fellow redhead.

_"You heard me."_

Everyone downstairs had the same thought: _What did she hear!_

* * *

Barton and Little were staring each other down. Neither had any clue that they currently had an audience that was on edge. Her chest rose and fell in quick bursts caused by the sudden shock she had just heard. She swallowed hard. "What?"

He stared back at her, almost as shocked as she was. Regaining composure quickly, he nodded. "You heard me." He took a step towards her, a tiny dent in the distance between them. "I got jealous and I jumped the gun on helping you because I worry about you and I worry because I love you, damnit." The first time he said it his voice had been many decibels higher and his face was finally coming down from the tomato red it had been from all the shouting.

She would have hit her knees if he hadn't crossed the distance between them and took her by the shoulders. Little looked up at them with her blue eyes swimming in wonder as she looked up at him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It wasn't right. _She _loved _him_, and apparently he loved her. Where the hell had it come from? Had he been avoiding her for the same reasons she had been avoiding him? She lifted a hand and placed it on his cheek. For two months she had been struggling with the right way and time to tell him, to just sit down and talk to him. This was not the idea she had in mind, but it was better than never saying anything at all. Now, if only she could manage to actually _say _something!

Barton was glancing around then back to her and around again. He thought that those few chick flicks he had watched with Little were joking or over exaggerating how it seemed like time slowed down when something like this was put on the table. Now he knew. Every tick of the clock felt like an eternity. He took a huge chance with the next thing he said. "Kaleigh?"

Her eyes lit up. He hadn't said her name like _that _since the day after the party. Little said nothing. Her only response was to stand on her toes, throw her arms around him, and press her lips to his. Little wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, but she swore at that moment she heard Stark hooting and hollering over something. Odd coincidence…It didn't matter though. What mattered was that he was kissing her back. A strange thought came to mind. She had kissed Peter on occasion and it was good. For a shy, quirky sort of guy he was a damn good kisser, but this, kissing Barton, was _right_. It had always been right.

Barton grabbed her by the hips and lifted her off the ground. Her legs wrapped around his waist while he carried her the short distance to his room. Once there he dropped her onto the bed, holding himself above her on his elbows. He pulled away from her lips for a moment to stare at her through the dimming, evening light. He ran his thumb across her lips.

Little smiled shyly up at him. She knew what was coming. Her smile spread as a thought crossed her mind. "I love you, Clint."

Downstairs, Stark was arguing with Jarvis. "C'mon, J! Switch over!"

_"Sir, the current activity Agents Little and Barton are sharing is not one to be viewed by those of higher moral standards."_

The man crossed his arms. "Well, I'm not a person of higher moral standards, am I?"

Banner stood and shook his head. "Stark, give it a rest and leave them…alone…"

Six pairs of eyes slid towards the ceiling. A quick, rhythmic thumping could be heard.

Thor bellowed another laugh. "I believe you were wrong, Lady Potts. Is there not a phrase you humans used called 'hitting that' which refers to what they are doing? Or is that phrase 'getting some' not 'hitting it'?"

The snickering began as snorts of shock that rolled into swiftly into bellows of joyous laughter.

**A/N I beg for your forgiveness! I know my updates have more space between them than they used to, but I have good reasons I swear! I really hope this chapter made up for it! **

**Aaaaand…I lied! This chapter is well over 7,000 words! My longest chapter yet! Hahaha, hope y'all don't mind. I know Ctrlaltdiee said that no chapter can be too long, only too short. I hope you're right!**

**Like it? Love it? Review _please_! Nothing makes me happier than seeing your reviews. You guys make me want to really keep going! **


	31. A Day in the Life Of

**A/N I'm beginning to fear that somehow I'm going to wake up one morning with my readers in my bedroom glaring at me for taking so long to update…I mean, I had a freaking DREAM about it! You were all glaring at me with your arms crossed and that look on your faces that made me almost wet myself. You guys won't do that…right? Right?**

**Thanks for all the awesome reviews! This story has completely SHATTERED my usual reviews-per-story average! I'm so happy about that!**

**WARNING! Another LONG chapter ahead! **

**Chapter Thirty-One: A Day in the Life Of…**

Barton awoke and tilted his head to the side to glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was just minutes after midnight. He nestled his head back into the pillow and stared up at the ceiling in content. It was quiet in the building. Quiet, but not silent. He could just barely hear the sounds of people a floor or two below. None of that mattered, though. What mattered was who was lying fast asleep in the bed beside him. Through the dim moonlight he could just make out the outline of her face with sporadic black spirals breaking the line. Her lashes made dark crescents on the tops of her cheeks. Even through the darkness he could make out the three defining scars on her face, cutting nearly white streaks across her already pale face. His eyes fell to the scar that caused her bottom lip to pucker and pull slightly. There was something about the scar that he liked, but he wasn't entirely certain what it was. He was just about to lift a hand to brush a lock of hair away from her face he felt the poking urge of Nature's Call. Trying to be as perfectly careful as possible to not wake Little, Barton crawled out of bed and quietly tip-toed over to the bathroom. A perfectly happy sigh of relief passed his lips as he let the contents of his bladder flow. Somehow there was a tiny bit of toilet paper floating in the bowl and for the fun of it he locked on and aimed. _Ten points! _He chuckled as he flushed and stood before the sink. He washed his hands and before drying them he ran them over his face and neck. His eyes widened when he looked at his naked reflection. _Damn…She really did a number on me…_Barton ran a hand over the crescent-shaped marks decorating his neck, shoulders, arms, and chest. A smirk passed his lips. Someone, he figured she would have been a biter. He prodded a particularly dark set of teeth marks along his trapezius. By the looks of it most of the marks were going to turn into bruises come morning. He chuckled quietly as he stretched his arms high over his head and to the side, but the laughter was followed by a wince. His back hurt like hell! Twisting around, he stared at his back in surprise. Fresh red lines marred his back as far down to the top of his rear. He could even see in some places where her nails had obviously broken skin. There were scattered spots where she hadn't scratched, but instead dug her nails in and had apparent clung for dear life. He stretched a hand back over his shoulder and rubbed a set of the red lines. They reminded him of the couple scratches he'd received from Ember; slightly raised and quite tender. He shook his head as he left the bathroom. Again he tip-toed carefully over to his side of the bed while trying to not awaken his sleeping girlfriend. Just as he was lowering himself down onto the mattress a very quiet and low chuckle behind him.

"I'm awake. Stop trying to sneak around."

Barton let out the breath he had been holding and fell onto the bed roughly, no longer caring. "I tried not to wake you."

She smiled at him through the darkness. "I woke up when you used the bathroom. You pee really loudly, yah know that, right?" She lifted a hand and ran her fingers over his cheek "I've missed you."

He grinned and tilted his head towards hers to press a little kiss to her lips. When he pulled back he rested his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry." He had this little grin on his face that made her smile as he ran a hand through her hair. "I shouldn't have gotten jealous."

She reached up and took hold of his hand. "I knew you were and I didn't do anything about it. I thought it was kinda cute half the time and other times I just blew it off like there was nothing wrong. I didn't think you'd take it the way you did. You had every right to be jealous. I mean, I was spending so much time in the lab when I could've been doing other things just as unproductive." She sighed quietly. "You shouldn't blame yourself when we're both at fault here."

"So, how devastated will your Pete be?"

Little shook her head with a small smile. "He isn't _my _Pete. He's a friend, a good friend. However, yeah, he wasn't overly thrilled when I told him that he and I couldn't really be anything more than friends because I love you."

His brow rose. "So…when exactly did you meet him? Did you know him before?"

She shrugged and nestled closer to him. "No, I didn't know him beforehand. A couple days after Fury shut me down. I got out thanks to Stark. Anyway, we bumped into each other and he spilled coffee on me. I guess it's one of those one-thing-leads-to-another sort of things. I wouldn't call him a rebound, but more like an affectionate companion that happened alone right after I broke up with my boyfriend."

Barton smirked. "So…He was a rebound?"

"I just said he _wasn't _a rebound…He was a friend and someone I could talk to who wouldn't judge. I've talked to Pepper, but she lives with us so she knows the story. I don't dare talk to Stark or Rogers, not like I'd even want to. Bruce is too close to the issue to really have a clear mind about it. I was able to talk to Pete about it all because since he doesn't know any of you he isn't judgmental about it. Though, I won't lie and say that if this—us getting back together—never happened that I wouldn't turn to him. Pete's a good guy, a great guy, but I know that when it comes to men you're the only one."

He adjusted his position as she spoke so kindly about the man who had come inches from taking her away. It didn't sit well on his mind that she truly seemed to like this guy…or was that more of the jealousy that caused this coming back? He'd have to watch out for that. "So he isn't going to randomly pop up with a bouquet of flowers and demand you go to him?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, and he wouldn't do that. He knows about my issues with flowers and the likes. If he did show up with roses I'd kick his ass because he obviously didn't listen to me." She lifted herself up on her elbow and smiled at him through the darkness. "Are you jealous?"

Barton stared up at her as her hair fell lightly in her face. He could see just one of her eyes. The man could only shrug.

She bent and kissed him softly. "Why be jealous when it's _your _bed I'm in, hmm?"

"Point taken."

She beamed a smile. "Good. So onto the next question: How're you holding up living with Loki? I mean…I would've asked before, but yeah…"

His jaw clenched. "Not fun, I'll say that much. He doesn't say much of anything to anyone and I've been out on missions enough that when I'm around nothing goes down, but he gives me this look every now and again. It drives me crazy."

She traced the line of his jaw with her index finger. "He can't do anything. You heard Thor: Odin's put Loki's powers on lockdown. The so-called Trickster is on a way harsher punishment than I was. Not to mention, my sister's been doggin' him and that keeps him out of the way. It's nice that she's around more because we're closer now, but if we're alone in the room and tall, pale, and brooding walks in she forgets I exist."

Barton brought up a hand to point an accusing finger at her. "She felt the same way when you guys were in school. You were Miss Popular and she felt like the forgotten sister."

"Yeah…I guess…" She huffed a breath. It was that whole tasting-your-own-medicine that she never enjoyed. Turning her thoughts from the sour tasting facts, she turned on her side so that her back was to him. Little smiled and gripped the pillow tight, squishing her face against it. "I missed this pillow. Soft and squishy."

His arm wrapped about her waist as he pulled her close. "I missed you. Sof—"

"Call me squishy and I'll bit your ass."

Barton shook with laughter. "After earlier I may find that threat a little more daunting. Come morning I'll have to show you what you did to me."

Her eyes widened. She was suddenly very aware of their complete nudity and felt a hot blush come over her. _About that…_ "So…How was it?"

"It?"

"_It_."

She couldn't see him, but she could hear the smirk in his voice. "_It _was good."

_Fears realized…_She chewed on her bottom lip. Thinking back on it she knew that most of her actions were driven by minimal knowledge and instinct, not experience. "Good? Not great? Not amazing?"

His body shook behind her. "Emphasize the good, or make it a normal sounding great. I'll admit it wasn't amazing."

She sighed.

"But you've got potential." He nuzzled the side of her neck. When he spoke again it was in a softer, gentler voice. "I've missed you, Kaleigh, I really have."

Little closed her eyes to ward off the small tear that threatened to spill. "Me too, Clint." She smiled as she looked back at him over her shoulder. "Ember has, too. I know she has. Even if I told her not to she still refers to you as Daddy."

His brows came together. "Why would you tell her not to?"

"Because I was mad…"

He tightened his grip on her. "Are you still mad?"

Little smiled softly. "Yes, but I'm getting over it."

"Good."

* * *

Ember was running around the Suite Floor and shouting at the top of her young lungs. She went to each door along the hall and plopped her little rump down. At that point she would tilt her head back and scream a mighty yowl in the hopes that someone would pay attention to her! When no one answered at the one Mama called Thor's room she went to Natasha's. Again, no answer. She went from there to Loki's, to Stark's, and finally to Roger's room. No one answered. She huffed a sort of irate sneeze and hopped on over to Uncle Bruce's room. Surely he would answer! When she got to his door she found that it was open just enough so that she could stand on her hind legs and push it open. Aha! Success! Ember bounded into the room and hopped onto the bed. She located Banner's head and sat right next to him. Taking in a deep breath she exhaled in a loud _MRRROOWW! _and waited.

Banner turned his head to the side.

Ember huffed. She put a paw on his face and tried again.

Nothing.

Another yowl.

Banner lifted a hand and pushed her away as though she were nothing more than an annoying gnat buzzing about his ears.

The kitten tumbled off the side of the bed and gave a rather peeved hiss before trotting out of the room. She walked down the hall with her nose in the air, trying to locate Mama. She knew Mama was home because she had heard her and Daddy arguing, but she never saw them. Ember had stayed in their bedroom and out of the way _especially _when she heard sounds that she had only ever heard seeping out of Stark's room. When she asked Mama she was told that it's something grownups do and she shouldn't be listening to anything that sounds like that. So, when the wounds came Ember busied herself with a particularly amusing plastic bag left over from a shopping trip. Her nose struck gold as she approached Daddy's room. After nudging it and finding that she couldn't open it she sat back on her haunches and took up her begging cry. When that didn't work she jumped up and tried to grab a hold of the knob. Just as she had wrapped her paws around it and was gnawing away, the door opened. With her little mouth still clamped on the handle she looked up at her mama as though she _wasn't _hanging from a doorknob and she _hadn't _scoured a few dozen scratches in the dark wood of the door.

"Ember!"

The kitten let go and dropped to the floor. She instantly engaged her only hope of not getting yelled at any further. Ember closed her eyes, starting purring, and rubbed up against Little's ankles. She looked up through the darkness and mewed the sweetest, cutest little mew she could manage.

Little scooped up the kitten and walked over to the bed. She set Ember down at the foot and crawled back under the covers beside Barton.

"What did she want?"

The woman growled slightly. "Attention. The _poor _dear was just so lonely."

Ember walked up between the couple and meowed softly.

Little shot her a look. "No, no. Don't try and apologize now. Wait until later when I won't want to throw you across the room for waking me up."

The kitten kneaded a portion of the bed before lying down between her adoptive parents, looking only slightly ashamed of the raucous she had made.

Barton couldn't stop himself from reaching down and stroking her fuzzy little head. "This is the same way she behaved when you left for your final surgery. At least this time she didn't wake everyone up. God, Stark swore up and down if she did it again he would use her as target practice."

Ember gave a little meow that was followed by a sneeze.

Little sighed and closed her eyes. "Just go to sleep, baby." She was out in mere moments.

Reaching over and pulling his girlfriend closer (and nearly crushing the kitten between them), Barton found her temple through the darkness and kissed it softly before lying his head back down in an attempt to find sleep once more. His let his mind wander as sleep slowly began to creep itself back in, only for it to be shaken away when Ember decided that now was not the time for sleep by attacking his toes. He reached down and took the kitten by her scruff and held him up so they were nose to nose. Glancing to the side he made certain that Little was asleep before he spoke. "You're only cute when the sun is up. Knock it off or I'll use you for target practice before Stark gets the chance." He set her back down at the foot of the bed. As he laid back down he felt something prodding him in the side.

"Talk to her like that again and I'll bite you in a way that _won't_ make you smile."

Barton glanced over in her direction and just smirked. It would have been far more terrifying if she hadn't sounded so gosh darn adorable when she said it.

* * *

First, a deep intake of breath followed by a noise that vaguely sounded like that of a baby dinosaur off an animated documentary. Second, it was time to stretch into a ridiculous shape that only a person with incredible flexibility could manage…that…or a cat. Finally, the opening of the eyes only to slam them shut and hide under the covers due to the streak of light falling in the absolutely perfect position over the bed to make contact with those recently opened eyes. Little hid beneath the blanket for a few seconds and blinked rapidly to make the spots go away. As she slowly resurfaced, giving herself more time to adjust to the bright light, a small orange and white face popped into view.

Ember bumped her nose against her mama's and mewed.

Little sat up with a small smile. Taking another deep breath her smile grew. There was still the faint smell of sex in the air. It was definitely a scent she could grow to love. She looked down to the kitten that was now in her lap. "Good morning."

The kitten stood on her hind legs and sniffed around her mama's chin. She pulled away, sneezed, and meowed loudly.

As she looked down at Ember, Little noticed her nudity and went to cover up, but realized that it wasn't of import to do so. There was only the three of them in the bedroom. Heck, she was still having one hell of a time trying to get Ember to understand why she shaves some of her fur away and dressed in more than just a collar. Pushing the silly thought from her mind, Little picked up the kitten, kissed her on the head, and set her back down. "Yes, yes, I'm aware it smells funny in here. Now, shhh." She pointed over to the sleeping form of the man beside her. "Daddy's still sleeping." After scooping up the kitten she carefully slid out of the bed and tiptoed towards the bathroom.

Little jumped and almost dropped Ember when she saw her reflection.

The woman staring back at her in the mirror brought forth a thought of the few romantic novels she had read in the past. Her short curls were sticking up in every direction imaginable. There were multiple reddish-purple hickeys littering her neck and a few more private areas of her body. Her mind went back to the night before when her eyes fell on a light hand-shaped bruise on her shoulder. A smirk passed her lips as she set Ember on the counter before turning the taps to start a shower. After running a loufa all sudsy with Barton's body wash and washing her hair with the two-in-one shampoo and conditioner he used she killed the flow and stepped out. There was a towel hanging off the rack, probably his, but it didn't matter. After rubbing it over her head for a moment she dried herself and wrapped it around herself, tucking a corner in to hold it up. She wiped her hand over the steamy mirror and looked at herself. For the first time in a quite a few months she felt almost pretty again. There was a small smile that just wouldn't leave her face. Little took up a comb that was sitting on the counter. As she ran it through her hair she spoke softly to Ember who kept trying to play with the toilet paper.

"You know, Baby, this is the happiest I've been in a while."

Ember gave a quiet _mrrow._

The woman made a face. "You never told me to talk to him, you sneaky little liar." She jumped when the knob suddenly clicked and the door started to open. She pressed against the counter as Barton stepped into the room behind her with a towel he had retrieved from somewhere in his bedroom wrapped around his waist.

He smiled at her. "Mornin'."

There was no getting around the dark blush that came to her cheeks. The look in his eye was quite possibly enough to make even the most sexually experienced women blush. Little cleared her throat and returned the smile. "Good morning." She got on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I'm going to go and get dressed. Meet yah downstairs for breakfast in a few?"

Barton gave a small nod. "Sounds good to me. I'd invite you to join me in the shower, but you beat me to the punch on that."

She just shrugged with a smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek before walked out of the bathroom with Ember quickly following behind her.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later when Barton came downstairs to find Little sitting at the island in the kitchen picking at a bowl of fruit with Stark hovering around her. He noticed she was hunching over it in the strangest manner he didn't understand until he finally caught what the billionaire was saying.

"Three…Four…Five! Five hickeys on her neck! I think I can see one on her che—"

"Come now, Stark, leave Small One alone." He was interrupted by the large blonde Asgardian lounging on the couch with a package of Pop-tarts.

"Oh, no! I fully intend on having my fun! For months we've all had to put up with their problems and now I plan on getting a laugh out of it!"

"You know if you keep pestering Little she's going to bite you, right?" Rogers gave the man a look. He and the woman may not get along, but that didn't mean Stark wasn't being a complete ass and she didn't deserve that.

Barton shook his head and walked over to the island and slid into the seat across from her and stole a cherry from her bowl. He regretted the thievery instantly.

Stark smirked. "So, Clint, is that the second cherry of hers you've taken?"

The man nearly choked on the remnants of the fruit as his face flushed.

Little slammed her face into her palm. She had a bad feeling Stark was going to take every shot he could think of. Her job now was to shoot him down each time. She squared her shoulders and looked at him. "Actually_, Tony_, I wasn't a virgin prior to last night. Now, shut up before I bite your ass like Rogers said!"

More ammo. "Speaking of biting. I see you've got quite a few little love bites there, Legolas."

"Tony…"

Barton raised a brow. "At least there's proof I have a sex life."

"Clint!"

The swarthy man narrowed his eyes. "Tell me, Bird Boy, did you two use any protection? We wouldn't want any…um…" He spun around and laid an eye on the doctor of the group. "Brucie! What're baby hawks called?"

Two pairs of blue eyes were glaring at Stark.

Banner squirmed slightly under the scrutiny of many eyes. "Um…Eyas, I think."

Rogers furrowed a brow. "How do you know random stuff like that?"

Little rolled her eyes. "Why does that even matter!?"

Barton reached over and stole a small slice pineapple. "It doesn't matter. What matters is how hypocritical it is that a man who screws everything with two legs and a heartbeat is giving _us _shit."

"Hey! It's two legs, heartbeat, and a vag—"

"_Tony!_"

Eyes turned on a rather irate Pepper glaring at the man.

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, speaking of legs. Hey Banner, seeing as how she can have more than two legs, doesn't that make their whole relationship bestiality?"

The doctor hid behind his newspaper. "Drop it, Stark."

In a rather interesting way to change the topic, Thor smacked Barton on the back, making the man almost spit out the chewed pineapple. "Congratulations! You have become a true man now, Barton! Welcome to manhood, it is a grand place to be indeed!"

Little almost fell off the barstool she was sitting on while Barton's face turned the shade of red that happened to be his girlfriend's favorite color. The woman wanted it all to stop. It was hard enough for her to talk to Banner about her insecurities, let alone to have the entire room discussing her recent endeavors into the physical realm of romance. Could things get any worse?

Why is it that as humans people ask that question knowing that it's usually seen as a challenge to whomever lines up the dominoes for the day?

_Ding!_

The elevator doors slid open.

Joann stepped out of the elevator with a bag containing three dozen donuts in one hand and somehow managing to hold two cardboard drink holders in the other. She smiled at everyone in the room. "Morning!"

Little grimaced. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your shop? You know, that place you _own _and _run_."

She set the donuts down on the counter and started dishing out the coffee. "After St. Valentine's it's always slow. I opened and left the store in the very capable hands of my assistant manager and two sales associates scheduled for the day. I thought I'd bring breakfast and made sure to bring plenty because I know how Thor just loves chocolate ones with sprinkles."

Forget the Pop-tarts! Thor was on his feet and hovering behind the woman nearly a foot and a half shorter than him. "Lady Joann, you are as much of a goddess as any woman in Asgard."

Little mocked him silently before sticking her tongue out. "Why is she 'Lady Joann' while I'm 'Small One'? We're both tiny!"

The big blonde man snatched up one of the boxes and grinned at the agent. "Because you told me to call you whatever 'tickles my fancy' and she was introduced to me as Joann."

Stark nodded his head, impressed. "Well, well, well, I guess the stereotypes about blondes are wrong."

Joann set out the donuts and looked over her sister and the man sitting across from her. A slow smirk spread over her face. "If I'm correct, it looks like my dear sister and Mr. Barton have made up and done perhaps just a little more than kissing."

Little flushed and looked into the almost empty bowl of fruit.

The younger twin smirked. "Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events. The last time I was here you couldn't stand to be in the same room with each other!"

Thor laughed through a mouthful of donut. "S'true! The arsher an' Shmall'n shpen' lasht nig—"

Little stood in a hurry from her seat. "This fruit isn't really cutting it for breakfast. Not to mention the smell of donuts and coffee is making me want to puke." She looked pointedly at her sister. "Clint, we don't we go out for something?" She didn't give him much of a choice. Standing, she grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the elevator. When the doors closed behind them all that could be heard was Barton belly-aching about not even having any shoes on.

The room was quiet.

A few people jumped when the rather quiet redhead spoke. "You're all complete assholes. Well, Banner, Rogers, and Pepper aren't, but the rest of you need serious help. I might excuse Thor because he's…well…Thor, but Stark, Joann, you two need serious medical attention." Natasha stood from the couch and walked over to the elevator. No one spoke until the doors shut and she was whisked away to somewhere else in the building.

Joann shrugged off the harshly spoken chiding. "Anyone know where I can find Loki?"

Eyebrows all around the room rose at the inquiry.

_"He's on the balcony, Miss Little."_

She smiled at no one in particular. "Thank you, Jarvis." She grabbed two of the cups of coffee and left for the stairs.

Stark watched her go with a curious look on his face. "She's even stranger than her sister…"

* * *

Joann stepped out onto the balcony into the chilly midmorning air of late February. Approximately twenty paces in front of her was the Asgardian prince she was looking for. He was leaning against the railing and looking out over the city. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was deep in thought by the way his shoulders were slightly hunched and tense. There was something about him that made her feel like giggling or blushing like a schoolgirl. Perhaps it was the smooth, perfect angles of his face. Perhaps it was the intensity lying in his green eyes. She had to admit it sure as hell wasn't his height. Being small didn't bother Joann. However, being small next to someone who stood just about head and shoulders over her made her feel almost insignificantly small. She pushed the thought from her mind and walked up to him. She was grateful that he was hunched over as it diminished his height and made her more comfortable. "Hey, tall, dark, and brooding, I brought coffee."

Loki only glanced down at her and sneered. "Your sister calls me that."

"Well, we are twins after all. Gotta have something in common." She sat the Styrofoam cup down in front of him and leaned on the railing beside him, though leaving space. If there was one thing in the two months she had been hanging around the Tower it was that one does _not _impede on Loki's personal space.

The banished prince took a sip of the drink. At first he thought Thor had been over exaggerating about the drink known as coffee, but he soon found it was a delicious treat. He preferred it black. The bitterness was something like a welcome friend to him. Clearing his throat, he continued to look down at the throngs of people below, but spoke to Joann. "Tell me, Joann, why is it you accepted your sister's apology so quickly? She told Thor of the day and I was forced to hear of it. I admit, it makes me wonder. If you two were at such odds, why let it go so easily?"

She gave a little grunt as she took a drink of her own cup of hot coffee. "She's my sister. Hell, she's more than that. Leigh's a fuckin' bitch, okay? I can't stand her sometimes and as we got older it got worse. I still can't stand to be around her. I mean, with these last couple months with her and Clint being all emotional and crap I was happy when either of them left or I could spend time with you." Her face flushed. "Uh…With you helping to assimilate you to life here on Earth…"

Loki couldn't explain why he was interested. Perhaps there was something about the simple lives of people on Earth that piqued his interest. They were such simple beings, even with their "high tech" devices. Their ways were so primitive, too, and so lacking in refinery. He tilted his head and looked down at her. "Why do you dislike her?"

She answered with a question. "Why do you hate Thor?"

He jerked back a bit, surprised at her bold comment.

Joann smirked. "Exactly. Look, I know what you're goin' through…well…kinda…I know what it's like to be the second born, the second best. Yeah, you were adopted, but whatever. You're still younger and I know you do or have seen yourself as the second best who lives in the shadow of the elder sibling."

"But you're a twin. You cannot be that much younger than her."

She shrugged. "A few minutes, but it's still younger. She never let me live that down as a kid and into our adolescence. Like I said, though, I guess you could say I'm the second best. She matured faster than I did. She found her powers first. She was always just a little better than me in school. I lived in her shadow until she finally left the institute and joined SHEILD. Getting out from under her made a difference. I started to do things without the fear of being compared to Leigh." She turned around and leaned back. Looking up at him, she continued, "The only difference between you and me is that I didn't through the world's biggest temper tantrum and take out my issues on an entire planet."

His head snapped to the side as he glared down at her. "You dare speak to a god in such a manner?"

She locked eyes with him. "Remind me again of how you're a god right now? Not to sound horribly mean, but I'm closer to godliness than you are at this moment. You're a mortal man. Your only power now is your silver tongue." She paused and looked away. "Which I think it's starting to tarnish." She pushed off of the railing looked up at him. "There are donuts inside. I'm pretty sure if you don't go in and at least get one, Thor and Stark are going eat the rest of them." With that she walked away from the man and headed back inside.

Loki looked over his shoulder at her with his brow furrowed. There was something about that woman that made him think.

* * *

Barton knelt in the grassy field of Central Park and ruffled the fluffy fur around the neck of a large black dog. The tag on the pretty blue collar jingled. Before leaving the Tower Little felt like doing what Stark told her to do long ago: let her fur down and wag her tail. It was good to get out and just enjoy her newly rekindled romance. Now they were playing fetch in the park in the late morning. There were other pet owners there with their happily barking pooches. Barton ran a hand over the top of Little's head. She was happily wagging a long-furred tail. In her mouth was a slightly knobby stick that she dropped at Barton's feet. The man chuckled. "One more time, okay?"

She barked and dipped into a playful bow with her tail wagging.

He hurled the stick as hard as he could out into the field and grinned as her large, black form went racing off after it. As he waited for her to return with the stick a young woman walked up beside him with a happy looking German Shepard on a black leash. She smiled at Barton. "Your dog is beautiful."

Barton jumped slightly. He hadn't been paying attention enough to notice her arrival. He was too involved in watching Little be a playful dog to care. He smiled at the young woman. "Thanks."

The woman tossed her shiny brown hair and batted dark lashes over green eyes. "What breed is he?"

Barton chuckled. "She's a she, first off. Also, I don't know." He paused for a moment while thinking up a decent background story. "A…uh…A friend found her on the street and we never really knew what breed she was. We never really cared." He whistled out and smiled when he saw the highly noticeable black dog come running back towards them.

The brunette smiled. "I'm Kim, by the way, and this is Bunker."

The brown and black dog sat beside his owner and panted up at her in a doggy like smile.

Little trotted up and dropped the stick at Barton's feet before eyeing the brunette with the equivalent of a dog's glare. She looked at Bunker and huffed a warning. In her mind she was thinking quite a few nasty things about the brunette.

Bunker's ears went back and he gave the black dog a weary gaze.

Kim smiled at Barton, unbeknownst to the silent conversation going on between the canines. "So…What're your names?"

He looked down at Little who looked up at him. He could see the daring gaze in her blue eyes. A smirk came to his face. "She was named by my roommate. Her name is Fifi."

Kim's brow rose. "Fifi? Kind of a fluffy bunny name for such a big girl."

He chuckled. "She was a tiny puppy. I'm Clint, by the way."

More batting of the eyelashes. "So what brings you to the park? Well, obviously Fifi, but anything else?"

Barton looked down at the woman. She was lovely with tanned skin…in late February in New York City. Her eyes were a rich shade of green…too rich. Her hair was incredibly long…yet seemed to shift in shade in a usually unnoticeable way. He noticed, though. He noticed. Barton stroked the top of Little's head and made eye contact with her. "I'm waiting here to meet my girlfriend."

The eyelashes stopped and Kim's postures became more slouched. "Oh. Well. May I pet Fifi?"

The man looked down at the dog and smirked. "You can try."

Kim reached out a hand to stroke the head of the seemingly calm and sweet dog.

Little didn't like that. She growled and drew back her lips to show dangerous teeth.

She drew her hand back. "Oh my."

Barton smirked. "Sorry. I guess she's just territorial. C'mon, Fifi, let's go."

Kim openly glared at the dog as they jogged off.

Little sat down after a short while and looked up at him with a happy smile on her canine face. She felt quite proud of him in that moment and showed it by licking his hand. A kiss would have been better, but there were too many people in the Park that day to dare risk changing even behind a bush or low wall.

"Well, I'll be damned if that isn't Fifi."

Barton and Little both snapped their heads in the direction of the voice.

Little barked happily and bounded over to the caller while Barton looked on confused at first. He was only confused, though, until realization struck. The man was about his height with shaggier brown hair and a deeper shade of blue eyes. His build was muscled, but he seemed lanky. He was dressed in plain clothes and a dark red hoodie. Over one of his shoulders hung a bulky camera bag and the camera was sitting in his hands. He was obviously in the park for some sort of photography. Now, none of the clothes or his camera mattered to Barton. The archer knew who this man was. He was the infamous Peter that had quite possibly come very close to stealing away _his _girlfriend.

The man held out a hand to Barton. "Hi, I'm Peter." He thought for a quick moment as to how he might know the dog. "Uh…Jo brought Fifi over one day. You…uh…you must be Clint."

Barton took his hand and shook his more firmly than necessary. "Yeah, I'm Clint." He locked eyes with the man. It was obvious that the photographer knew that Fifi _was _Little, but they were in public and ears were listening everywhere. "You must be the Peter that ruined her blue top. Pity. I liked that one."

Little sat between them on the ground and looked up. She whined slightly. It was both a plea and a warning. _C'mon, guys, let's play nice._

Peter smirked. "Sorry about that. Her coat was ruined, too. I did give her mine to keep warm at the time. She never gave it back, though."

Another whine. _Pete, stop trying to get me in trouble!_

Barton chuckled. "The dark blue one? I guess she didn't tell you. I'm sure she told you about her daug—kitten, Ember. Well, anytime that coat hit the floor Ember seemed to forget where her litter pan was, if you catch my drift. After a few times it seemed not even washing it would get the odor out and Kaleigh has such a sensitive nose you must understand why she had to get rid of it." His little speech was spoken with a bland, almost emotionless face.

_That's a lie! Ember would never! Oh, Clinton Francis Barton you and I are going to have words later! _Not being able to shift and step in between the two men who reeked of pure maleness was driving her crazy.

"That's a shame. I thought Jo said she had taught Ember better than that?"

"I guess the kitten just didn't like having your scent around."

Little whined as the two men quieted for a stare-down.

Pete was the first to soften. He looked down at the large black dog between them and put a hand on her head. "Look, Jo told me everything. Personally, I think you're a dick for ever questioning her and the stunt you pulled at the party wasn't helping."

Barton tensed.

He went on. "I'm letting you know ahead of time that she'll always have a friend in me, but so long as she's with you that's all we'll ever be. No need to go green with envy or anything."

The archer narrowed his eyes slightly. "Fair enough. I would like to offer a rebuttal, though."

"Hmm?"

Barton fixed him with a hard gaze. Yes, he would try his best to keep his jealousy in check seeing as how that's what nearly ruined their relationship the first time. However, that didn't mean he squash that mark-your-territory instinct that all men had. "If I ever find out you put your hands on her in a more than friendly way or dared to attempt a kiss, I'll knock your teeth down your throat and as you run away I'll use you as target practice. I'm sure if she's told you so much you know I never miss."

Peter held out his hand a second time. "I'd call that fair. Though, if you wanted to knock my teeth in you'd have to catch me first, a feat many have never accomplished."

"Fine. Skip the teeth bit and we'll just go straight for target practice. Got it, as—"

He was cut off by the rather menacing growl he was getting from Little. She had taken to her feet and was baring her teeth at first one man, then the other. To state the obvious, she didn't like where their conversation was heading.

Barton nodded. "Right, sorry Kaleigh." He gave a forced smile at the man. "I can't say it was a pleasure to meet you, Peter, but I can say it was interesting."

Peter returned the nod. "I'd have to agree, Clint." He rubbed the top of Little's head one last time before turning and walking away. He was only a few paces out when he stopped and looked back. "Hey…Just do me a favor."

Barton's brow rose.

The man looked at the dog and locked eyes with her. He had always liked that her eyes never changed with her. He liked those eyes that always seemed to shine with a sort of mischief and intelligence. Taking his eyes from her, he looked at the man standing beside her. "Take care of her, alright?"

Barton was taken off guard by the sincerity of the request. He nodded once, and that was it. They both watched as Peter walked off to continue doing whatever it was he was doing.

Little looked up at Barton who was watching the retreating figure with furrowed brows. She made a sound that took him off guard. It sounded like the dog's equivalent of a laugh. She smiled up at him in that doggy way and leaned against his leg. _Clint Barton, you are a perfectly jealous fool…but you're my perfectly jealous fool. _

**A/N Yeah, don't ask me much about what I was thinking while writing this chapter. I just sort of felt like writing a chapter like this. I love chapters that don't really have a huge meaning and maybe introduce a small idea here or there, but nothing huge. If it's any consolation, chapter 32 will be much busier than this one! Also, I'd like for it to be noted that this would have been uploaded the evening of August 22, but due to my internet deciding to rebel I couldn't update it until now :( **

**Like it? Love it? (Goddess forbid) Hate it? Review please! You know how they make me smile :D **


	32. Ahem!

**A/N Gaaah…I'm sorry guys! It looks like it's still going to take me a while with the chapters because of work. I usually have two days off a week, but I'm just mentally exhausted. I promise to be more productive on my days off and I'll start trying to make it happen. I promise this story will be finished.**

**I apologies now if this seems just a tad choppy, it has been a while since I've written. My apologies.**

**Also, I may have lied about this chapter being "busier", but ides change, right!**

**I lay myself at your mercy for taking over two months to update…I'm so sorry!**

**I do not own White Fang by Jack London**

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Ahem!**

Loki looked over the shelf containing a rather large collection of varies novels that was in his room. Apparently when the rooms had been designed Pepper made sure that the "guest room" was like the ones she knew, which always had books to read. Ever since his arrival on Earth he had come to realize that it was only through reading that he could escape the constant reminder that he was a mortal, powerless man. He had already read through the few by an author named F. Scott Fitzgerald and found them rather interesting. There was no explaining why, but he found himself enjoying the human novels. He had spent much of his life just watching the humans, but had never known what the world looked like through their eyes. When his eyes fell upon a familiar author's name a small smile crept across his face. Jack London. He had read _The Call of the Wild_ the week before and wondered if this _White Fang_ would be just as interesting. Pulling it from the shelf, he straightened and held the book aloft. What looked like a majestic wolf perched atop of a rock was on the cover. Perhaps this would be another novel that was about a canine. He didn't mind. In fact, he thought they were more interesting than the ones seen through the eyes of humans. Taking the book he left to find a quiet place to sit and read.

His first stop found him on the second floor of the designated living area for the group of people. It was empty save for one other person. Captain Rogers was sitting in the easy chair with his legs crossed at the ankles and a book in his lap. Other than that, the room was silent. Loki walked up and sat down on the couch well across from the captain.

Rogers looked up, surprised to see him, and couldn't help but wonder why Loki was there.

The raven haired man help up his book. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

Rogers shook his head. "Not at all."

They both fell quietly back into their books.

Loki opened _White_ _Fang _to the first page and started.

_Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black an omni—_

He had to stop.

Rogers was chuckling quietly at something he had read, and though the captain didn't see it, Loki was glaring at him.

He continued.

_ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness—a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild._

Loki had to stop again, but this time for two reasons. The first being that the opening paragraph of the novel made him feel the cold desolation described in the ink. The second was that, once again, Rogers had made some sort of distracting sound. This time it was a shocked gasp. Perhaps someone had just been shot, or the villain was discovered. It didn't matter. What mattered was that it was becoming annoying.

Turning back to the novel he read on.

_But there _was_ life, abroad in the land and defiant. Down the frozen waterway toiled a string of wolfish dogs. Their bristly fur was rimed with frost. Their breath froze in the air as it left their mouths, spouting forth spumes of vapor that settled upon the hair of their bodies and formed into crystals of frost._

Loki liked the sound of these dogs. He was just about to continue on when yet another tidbit of sound pulled him from the inked pages. Rogers had gasped yet again.

"No!"

The pale man stood and shut his book. He wasn't even done with the first page and his first spot of choice had already been shot down. Ignoring the confused look he go from the captain, Loki left the floor and found his way to the stairs. He went up, back to the suite floor. It had been empty when he left and that was only a few minutes ago. He wasn't in any luck. There was a small circle of sofas with a small table in the middle. Romanoff was seated on a couch with her favorite gun before her. She was cleaning it thoroughly. He sat down across from her and went to open his book.

Romanoff looked up at him and crossed her arms. "Can I help you?"

He held his book up. "Care if I sit and read?"

She gave him a hard look, but never answered. Without looking up at him she turned back to her gun.

Loki took that as a good sign and opened his book. Before he could read, though, he started thinking about the people he was being forced to live with. One was his idiot brother. One was egocentric billionaire who had shot his invasion plans to hell. One was the billionaire's girlfriend. One was the monster he provoked. One was the interrogator who stolen plans from his lips. One was the ring leader who managed to fight off his invasion. One was the snarky shape shifter who always had a glare for him. Finally, one was the man he had once controlled. They all either glared at him, poked fun at him, or flat out ignored him. His brother would talk with him, but openly admitted to finding Loki's solemn presence a bother. The only person he knew on the planet who changed that was Little's sister. Loki rolled his eyes and went back to the words on the page. Mortal women weren't worthy of his time.

_Leather harness was on the dogs, and leather traces attached them to a sled which dragged along behind them. The sled was without runners. It was made of stout birch-bark, and its full surface rested on the snow. The front end of the sled was turned up, like a scroll in order to force down and under the bore of soft snow that surged like a wave before it. On the sled, securely lashed, was a long and narrow oblong box. There were other things on the sled—blankets, an axe, and a coffee-pot and frying-pan; but prominent, occupying most of the space, was the long and narrow oblong box._

He had to pause. This box made him wonder. What happened to the runners? What was in the box? He turned back to his book with his curiosity ablaze.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get any further in it at the moment.

Romanoff had become what one might say was violent with her cleaning. The sound of metal clinking and clicking grew in tempo and volume.

Loki huffed and stood. Another nuisance. Was he ever going to get past the first couple pages? He took the stairs going down this time. He walked into the recreation area and immediately turned around. The room was filled with the sound of Stark badgering Banner about some new gadget. He wouldn't even try. His next stop was the top floor. If Stark was downstairs there was a good chance that the penthouse would be empty. It was! Loki sighed in relief as he found a comfortable position on one of the couches. Would he finally get to read?

About ten minutes later he was captivated by the novel. He could only hope that nothing would break the trance he had fallen into.

"No. I said April and not a day sooner. Look, you're lucky I'm even doing this for you, you know how he is."

Loki shut his book and sighed. _Damn_. He looked over to see Pepper coming in from the elevator talking rapidly on her phone to someone who had obvious upset her.

"No, I can't do that."

She finally saw Loki on the couch. Holding her hand over the phone, she gave him a look. "What're you doing here?"

He stood and headed for the stairs. "I'm not here." With his book in hand he took to the stairs once again, going up once more. The roof, perhaps? When he got to the top of the stairs he could see through the small glass window in the door and stopped. The _definitely_ roof was out. The archer and his girl were sitting on the roof together with what looked like a makeshift picnic. He fought the urge to sneer at the sentimental scene as he turned on his heel to find somewhere else to read. Loki stopped off on the floor with the kitchen and looked around. The room had a few more people in it that earlier, but he didn't care. He wasn't staying there. Loki was going to resort to his least favorite reading place: his bedroom. In the past two months the quaint and comfortable room had begun to feel more and more like a prison. The only thing about the room he loathed was that he swore he had seen a room that mirrored it perfectly in the glossy pages of a woman's home magazine. The room made him feel homesick, a sensation he wasn't all that fond of. However, his interest in the novel currently outweighed his dislike of the room. Loki returned to his bedroom and sat down on the bed. He leaned against the walled and bent his right knee up to rest the book upon. He flipped it open to the last page he had left off on and recommenced with his reading.

"_Mrrrow!_"

Loki shut the book and tossed it across the room. "In the name of all that is good and holy, _what!?_" He glared at the floor where the orange and white kitten was sitting. Was there no hope for him to simply read a book?

Ember leapt onto the bed and purred loudly as she rubbed up against his bent leg. She sat down and slowly blinked her large blue eyes while mewing softly at him.

Loki frowned at the cat. He scooped her up in one hand and dropped her off the edge of the bed. "I haven't the time—or patience for that matter—for you, Cat, now run along."

She huffed and jumped back onto the bed. Now she crawled onto his lap and meowed loudly.

"Damn you, cretin! I said no!" He tossed her back onto the floor rather unceremoniously.

Ember was not in the mood to give up. She jumped back onto the bed and the next time he went to toss her down she decided it would be fun to play with his hand using both claws and teeth.

Loki snarled and grabbed the kitten by her scruff, holding her up to his face. "Go find someone else to torment, you worthless piece of flesh!" He tossed her onto the floor and leaned back against his headboard as she hissed at him before scampering off.

Poor Ember felt particularly jaded. She was just trying to make the grumpy man happy. She had watched most of the morning as he tried to find a quiet place to relax with his book. When she found him in his room she thought she'd keep him company the same way she'd lay in Mama or Daddy's lap while they read their books or played on their little handheld screens. She felt Loki's anger was completely illogical. As she strutted down the hall with her little nose stuck in the air at the indignity of it all the elevator doors opened to reveal Auntie walking out. She sat down and didn't move. It was the number one rule when Auntie was around. Mama said that her fur could make Auntie very sick so she wasn't allowed to get too close and always had to announce her presence.

Joann saw the kitten almost instantly as she stepped into the room and froze. She locked eyes with Ember and felt an odd chill. The cat gazed back at her with a far too human gaze and that was highly unnerving. Joann had never liked the way that animals became when they were around her sister. Then again…she wasn't all that fond of animals anyway. She was rather pleased when Harley had to leave due to the onset of allergies.

Ember huffed a little sneeze and blinked at her Auntie.

Joann frowned at the cat and snapped her fingers harshly. "Get!"

A hiss was Ember's reply. She didn't like this rude behavior! However, she flipped her tail up and strutted away, making sure to growl as she passed by Joann.

"Yeah, well fuck you too, Cat." The petite woman sneered at the retreating form of Ember before making her way down the hall. She had already asked Jarvis in the elevator where she could find her favorite war prisoner. Seeing as how the door had been left open by Ember, Joann only had to lean against the frame and knock on the wall. "Knock, knock."

Straightening from retrieving the discarded novel, Loki turned a curious gaze upon the woman. "I have yet to understand why you mortals knock and proceed to mention that you've knocked." He tossed the book onto the bed and sat down with a huff. His day had turned out rather unpleasant in comparison to his plans.

Joann stayed where she was, but smiled at him. "Because we can. Now, you seem grumpy today. What's up?"

He grimaced. "All I wanted was to read this book I found on the shelf but everywhere I went something bothered me…"

At first, it was a quiet snicker. This was followed by an outright laugh.

Loki glared at Joann. "And what exactly do you find funny about this?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, nothing, nothing! Pray tell what was so annoying?"

He took in a breath to lay out his explanation, but before he could say anything Jarvis' cool voice echoed throughout the room and—by the sound of it—throughout the top few floors of the building.

_"Attention Avengers, there is an urgent incoming transmission from SHIELD. Everyone's presence is required in the conference hall."_

Joann and Loki locked eyes. Both were feeling the same odd sensation of unease and confusion. Were they supposed to go? Or were they supposed to stay?

She was the first to make a move. "I can't get into the conference room…can you?"

He almost scoffed. "No. I cannot leave these three floors. If our presence were necessary they would have called for us as well, seeing as how we are not SHIELD's little _pets_, I highly doubt that would happen." He spat the word "pet" out rather viciously.

Joann looked at him with her brows furrowed. It seemed that he was still smarting from the devastating lose he had at the hands of the superheroes.

Meanwhile, no one was patient enough to wait for the elevator and the sound of stamping feet echoed off the walls of the stairwell. No one spoke. After Loki's failed attempt at taking over the world there hadn't been much need for them. The group had made a substantial effect that rang true through the minds of many low-lives and criminals. Even if there was a need for extraordinary intervention the entire crew was hardly necessary. This was the first time that all seven of them were being called in.

The doors of the conference room burst open as they all pushed into the room. Everyone took to their seats and turned to the large monitor with the SHIELD logo spinning slowly. Nothing was happening…

Little growled quietly. "What's the hold up?"

Romanoff held up a hand. "Ease up, give him a second."

Stark tossed his head. "This better be important. I was in the middle of something."

Barton snorted and grabbed one of the glasses that was sitting on the table. He filled it with water from the pitcher. "Oh, come off it Stark, you're never in the middle of anything unless it's someone's legs!"

Thor tossed back his blonde head with a mighty laugh. "Aha! Oh, that was a good one, Archer!"

"Why must insults made towards me always include sex!" The billionaire smacked a hand down on the table and pointed at Barton.

Rogers grimaced. "Why must half of your conversations turn towards sex?"

"Because those are the easiest ones."

Little smacked him on the arm. "Clint, stop being an ass."

"You laughed!"

Someone cleared their throat.

"Just because I laughed doesn't mean you weren't being an ass…"

Banner cleared his throat. "Guys…"

Stark narrowed his eyes at the archer. "Yeah, Barton, listen to your woman."

"Shut up, Stark, or I may become tempted to rip a chunk out of your ass."

"I happen to know for a fact, Fifi, that your bark is worse than your bite."

Try number two: "Guys." Banner hoped this time his voice sounded a little more urgent.

Romanoff looked at Banner and finally realized what it was he was trying to tell them. She set the bickering group with a hard glare and hollered. "Guys! Shut up!" She pointed to the screen where the rather unhappy face of Nick Fury loomed.

"Thank you, Romanoff."

Those who were part of the heated conversation all seemed to cower into their chairs as Fury's authoritative voice took control of the room.

"Now that I have your attention there is a rather pressing matter that requires your attention. I expect to see all seven of you. Immediately." The transmission cut out.

Barton, Little, Romanoff, and Rogers all leapt from their seats and made for the doors. Their training had instilled in them that instant response to any order. Thor, Banner, and Stark were left watching them hop to it. The next to stand was the God of Thunder as he processed the urgency of the situation.

Banner stood slowly and looked across the table to Stark. "Aren't you coming?"

Stark looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose." With that the two scientists made their way up to the penthouse where they would wait for the rest of their group.

Pepper came out of their room with a curious look on her face. "What's going on, Tony?"

He shrugged as he moved over to where he always had his nice, shiny briefcase that contained the portable Iron Man suit. "Dunno yet. Nick's called us all into the principal's office. I wonder what we've done wrong now."

His girlfriend smirked. "If anyone has done anything wrong, it _would_ be you."

"Oh, shush."

The elevator doors slid open and out stepped the three SHIELD agents followed by the captain and demigod. The agents were decked out in their usual gear, Rogers hadn't obviously changed, but the others could see an inkling of blue peaking out from beneath his shirt giving away the fact that his uniform was beneath his clothes, and Thor had changed from his earthling clothes into his Asgardian garb.

Rogers looked around at the assembled group. He could tell by Fury's tone that it looked like it was going to be seven extraordinary people against something or someone that was far from savory. "Alright. Let's go."

**A/N Yes, a short chapter that may have a few defects that I didn't see, but this is better than no chapter at all, right? I truly hope you guys don't mind!**


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